To Begin Again
by PrincessMelissa83
Summary: With their quest behind them, what awaits behind the next door? An unlikely group brought together by unlikely circumstances, they have formed a bond of love and friendship. Will that bond continue to remain true when their quest is over? Sequel started
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thanks so much to Wendy for beta'ing this fic for me!

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**Scroll One: Experience the Loss**

"Kikyo-sama!" Kagome breathed at finding the woman lying on her side on the rocks beside a stream. The miko did not move and Kagome hurried to her, dropping her bike as she jumped off, and slipping every so often on the damp rocks as she ran. Sango and Miroku were not far behind her with Inuyasha leading them. From her shoulder, Shippou whimpered seeing the still form of the once dead priestess. He was not good at dealing with death.

"Kikyo-sama, what happened?"

She rolled the woman over onto her back, for the first time noticing the shallow breathing emanating from her.

The priestess was barely able to open her eyes and Kagome's eyes roamed over her body looking for injury and finding the slash across her shoulder…she only barely registered that these were the same injuries Kaede had described as killing Kikyo fifty-two years before. Three long, jagged cuts ran from the curve of her shoulder down to her back, but they were not just any cuts - they were claw marks. Kagome knew immediately what had happened. Only one person could have that sick of a sense of humor.

Naraku.

"Where are your Shini-dama-chuu?" she asked, noticing that the sky was clear and that there had been no youki in the area or flying snake-type youkai to alert them to Kikyo's presence. If it had not been for Inuyasha's sense of smell or Kagome and Miroku's sense of auras, they would have never known she was nearby. "They should be bringing you souls."

"Dead," the woman muttered, "…he killed them…Naraku…the souls are gone…"

Kagome only barely felt the tingling that had started in her chest as her senses picked up on Inuyasha and Kirara quickly approaching.

"We'll help you." She glanced over to her side to see them; they were practically there. "I'm going to heal you, like I did before, 'kay?"

She placed her hands on the wounded shoulder and inhaled sharply as the poison from Naraku's miasma assaulted her senses, but she did not let up.

The others had arrived and had to take a step back as the undead priestess began to glow in a bluish light and Kagome became engulfed in a purple light of her own. The two auras mixed and became one as a ball of white light seeped out of Kikyo's chest and flowed into Kagome. When the auras had disappeared once more, Kagome was panting for breath looking with wide eyes at the miko whose breath had stopped, her semi life taken from her.

"K-Kikyo…" Inuyasha dropped to all fours, sitting back on his haunches as he looked at the priestess' lifeless body, pain clearly written on his face. His nose twitched slightly.

Sango and Miroku came to a stop and looked over the scene before them in solemn silence. They had approached slowly after Inuyasha's arrival and could tell from the looks on both their friends' faces that the miko had returned to death.

Shippou scampered from Kagome's shoulder and hid behind the taijiya, clinging to her leg and making quiet whimpering noises; Kagome's distress was distressing him. Sango knelt down and picked him up, cradling him in her arms.

"Naraku, that bastard. He did this."

His golden gaze drifted slowly from Kikyo's peaceful face to Kagome's wide cerulean eyes, another shadow taking the pain's place. When she recognized it as fear, she shut her eyes tight against the impending tears.

"I-Inuyasha…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" she gasped, repeating the same phrase over and over again, unable to speak anything else at the moment. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

Something in her mind clicked, telling her that she should go. She needed to leave, run away from the look in his eyes. The first tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek as she stood and she started to take a step back. It felt as if her head was stuffed with cotton and her body felt weighted down. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and a knot of unease settled in the pit of her stomach. When she lifted her foot to take a step back, it felt as if it were filled with lead and she only barely registered the gasped exclamations of her other companions as she turned and felt herself falling.

Miroku dashed forward and caught her as she passed out, one arm going around her shoulders and the other under her knees, lifting her off of the ground. He turned his deep violet eyes on the hanyou who had been watching, looking torn. He had a duty to both mikos and though he knew Kagome needed him, he also needed to see to Kikyo; he needed to see to his own grief.

Sango provided a solution, stepping forward next to Miroku. "Inuyasha," she started quietly, absently stroking Shippou's hair, "we'll take Kagome-chan with us back to Kaede-sama's. You take Kikyo-sama and we'll follow behind."

Miroku nodded. "Kaede-sama can give her a proper burial."

Inuyasha simply nodded and the houshi turned, shifting Kagome in his grip so that he could keep a better hold on her.

Sango followed him as he walked back towards her bike. As she knelt to pick up Kagome's bike, Shippou jumping onto her shoulder so that she could grasp the handlebars, she looked over her shoulder at Inuyasha. The hanyou had stopped watching them and dropped his eyes back down to Kikyo's lax features. He brought one hand up to her face, stroking her skin with his fingertips and then running his fingers through her hair. Blinking back her own tears, she turned away and picked up her pace to catch up with Miroku.

_I've never seen him so vulnerable before. Its obvious his feelings for Kikyo were very strong._ Glancing at her still unconscious friend, she sighed. _I am glad that Kagome isn't awake to see this, though. She would be heartbroken._

Inuyasha looked down at Kikyo. She had been the first person to even begin to accept him as a person after his mother's death. Though he knew she had not belonged back here, in the world of the living, he had not wanted her to be hurt. He sighed and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He had promised to protect her, but she had died again and in the same manner from the looks of it.

_Did she know it wasn't me this time?_

He brought his hand up and cupped her cheek, letting his fingers play over the smooth, cold flesh. It was true that he had embraced her during her life and her resurrection, and she had kissed him, but he had never touched her. He had always felt unworthy, as if he were dirty and to hold her in such a way would taint her. His hand drifted up and his fingers brushed through her hair. It was smooth, silky, and so fine that it just spilled through his fingers.

After a moment he shifted and gently lifted her with his arm around her shoulders and brought his other arm beneath her knees, standing carefully. Making sure he held her securely, he bounded off, going quickly but carefully back towards Kaede's village.

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A/N: I am currently going through and re-editing the chapters that I have done so far. Some mistakes have been pointed out to me in reviews and some I'm finding myself. This chapter was originally a lot shorter, ending with Kagome saying she was sorry. Re-reading it, however, I decided that I needed to elaborate a little more, extending it so that you can see a little of how each character reacts to Kikyo's death. Also, I had been told in reviews that I was using too many Japanese words. I've re-edited it.

Please read and review!

Mel


	2. Chapter 2

_**To Begin Again  
**_**PrincessMelissa83

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_A/N: I'm really trying to focus more on Miroku and Sango's relationship in this fanfic that I have in my previous ones because I feel that it's something that has begun to blossom and deserves the same nurturing that Kagome and Inuyasha's does._

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and Company. They are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi._

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_ **Scroll One: Mourning**

A month now she had not been back home and she was beginning to get anxious. She had gone through every extra school uniform she'd brought and the regular clothes were not exactly appropriate for the current weather conditions. It was warm for spring and getting warmer and her last trip through the well the temperatures had still been rather chilly, thus the clothes that she had brought with her were too heavy for comfortable wear and she'd finally had to give in and allow Sango to purchase a couple of summer yukata for her since her money held no bearing in the Sengoku Jidai. She'd promised to repay Sango by finding some useful things in her era for the girl to have although the taijiya had insisted there was no need.

With the purchase and wear of the feudal era clothing, she was no longer the strangely clad miko of the Shikon no Tama…she was just another miko whose only claim to specialty was that she just _happened_ to be in charge of the sacred jewel.

She wasn't exactly sure she liked that idea. There was something…energizing…about being instantly recognized when she walked into a town. She'd never really tried to be popular at school, she just always was and to get the same reaction of popularity in the Sengoku Jidai by all the villagers…well…after all, she _was_ the Shikon no Miko, she traveled with the infamous Inuyasha, she and her friends saved countless lives by slaying evil youkai and worked to gather the shards of the jewel so that feudal Japan would be safe once more. Yep, she was special.

Now if only _he_ would realize that.

_He_ was a temperamental hanyou who had cautiously avoided her for a complete month.

"_Inuyasha?" Kagome watched him stand just as she came in the hut and brush past her without a second glance. "Inuyasha, where are you going?"_

_He didn't even stop or turn around. "Out."_

When he spoke to her his words were short and clipped, not harsh, but almost strained. He looked at her forehead or her nose, but never her eyes. They didn't argue any more and when she tried to find out what was bothering him, his eyes would flash with some emotion that disappeared before she could recognize it and then he would 'keh' and walk off.

"_Hurry it up, wench. We ain't got all day." Inuyasha stood at the edge of a path through the trees, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his haori, scowling in her direction._

_She forcefully zipped her backpack closed and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm coming." She walked quickly to catch up with the rest of them and then stopped in front of Inuyasha. He looked at her for a second, his eyes focused on the tip of her nose. Such a situation would have ended in afull blown argument and an osuwari before but that day, and the days following, he issued no smart remarks on stubborn, slow bitches or girls who carried to much stuff. He just waited. _

"_Inuyasha? You okay?" She frowned, worried._

_His eyes moved to look at the center of her forehead, completely avoiding her eyes. Something flickered in his golden depths, but was soon gone. "Keh, I'm fine, wench." And then he turned on his heels and walked off._

He still carried her, still protected her, but it was painfully obvious that things had changed between them.

She sighed and looked down at the bowl of leaves she was currently grinding for Kaede's mixtures. The old woman's arthritis would no longer allow her hands to do such work and so she had taken to storing powders so that when the need came they were readily available, Sango, Shippou and Kagome had been helping her gather the herbs and grind them to powder.

_Does he blame me?_ She wondered, once more questioning her own guilt. _I was trying to help. I didn't know…maybe I did know…what if I really was responsible? Oh, Kami-sama…what if I did kill her? He blames me for her death, I just know he does. He probably wishes that I'd go back through the well and never come back. And here I was, like a baka, sticking around because I thought he needed me…_

It was the truth. She had not gone back through the well since Kikyo's death because she thought that her disappearance, despite her arguments that she _would_ be back, would only hurt him. The shadow in his eyes when he had looked at Kikyo's makeshift body lying lifeless on that beach…he'd looked so afraid…it was a look she'd _never_ seen on Inuyasha before and one she never wanted to see again. She had thought perhaps he was afraid because he was losing someone he cared about once more and she didn't want to add to that fear by leaving him, but maybe that wasn't the cause of his fear…maybe he was afraid of _her_…of _Kagome_…

"_K-Kikyo…Naraku, that bastard. He did this." _

"_I-Inuyasha…Gomen ne…Gomen ne…Gomen ne…Gomen ne…Gomen ne…"_

"Kagome?" The old miko's voice tore into her thoughts and she lifted her head, realizing for the first time that she had started to cry as she felt a tear roll down her cheek followed by another and then another. "Kagome, what is wrong, child?"

What could she possibly say to Kaede about what she had been thinking? Hurriedly she put the bowl and grinding stick down, wiping her tears with a harsh action on the back of her hand. "I'm okay, Kaede-sama…I was just thinking that's all…about my family and…things…"

The old woman stirred the contents of a pot and looked across the room at the young girl, eyeing her suspiciously. "I may be old, child, but I've still got my wits about me. You were not thinking about your family just now. You were thinking about Inuyasha."

Kagome sighed. Was she really that obvious or was the woman taking a stab at the dark? Either way, there was no denying the truth of her observation when the heat of a blush crept across her cheeks. "Yeah…It's just that he's been so distant since…since then. He doesn't talk to me anymore and I'm worried. I think he holds me responsible, Kaede-obaa, and maybe I am…I don't know anymore." She wrung her hands in her lap, fidgeting with the tie of her yukata, no longer able to meet Kaede's eyes after having admitted her possible guilt.

The old woman heaved a great sigh and slowly rose from where she had been kneeling over their dinner. The food was cooked, it was just a matter of keeping it warm until the others could arrive. Inuyasha was heavens knew where, sulking, and Miroku had gone to retrieve Sango from Kohaku's grave. She gave Kagome a kerchief to dry her eyes with and touched the young girl's head. She had come to a realization herself in the past month. These strange young men and women who often took shelter under her roof were not just guests in her home as they had been when they had first arrived nearly two years before. This was not just some hut they came to when they needed shelter or advice or a place to heal. This was their home and they were her family, her…well, she was too old to be considered a mother… these talented and special young people were like her grandchildren and she worried over them as much as any good obaa would when they were away. And this village, this hut, would always be there for them even when she no longer was. They would always have a place to come home to.

"It's not you that Inuyasha blames, Kagome," she told the young girl. "I do believe he has taken full responsible on himself and his distance is because he feels that he is no longer strong enough to protect you." She smiled kindly down at the girl. "Do not fret, child, Inuyasha will come around eventually. He simply needs time to heal."

Kagome nodded, still not feeling appeased.

* * *

The warm summer sun beat down on her back, warming the thin cloth of her summer yukata and the skin beneath it. Had she not been so deep in prayers, she might have noticed the shadow that came to loom over her, blocking her from that very heat, but her head was bowed and her eyes were closed, her lips moving slightly as she spoke under her breath. It wasn't until a gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder did she realize that she was not alone. 

The taijiya who had allowed so few to sneak up on her in the past, jumped at the touch, mentally scolding herself for being caught off guard as she had been. What if it had been a youkai and not one of her companions? They were still in possession of several jewel shards and the power of the shards lured youkai their way constantly…Naraku was lured by those same shards. It could have been him that snuck up on her so.

Naraku.

Just the thought of that name left a bad taste in her mouth and for a moment her deep brown eyes flashed with something besides grief. She would kill Naraku for what he had done. He would die a slow and painful death, begging for mercy at her hands by the time she was done with him. She would make him feel what she had felt the night Kohaku was forced to kill their family; the pain she'd experienced when he came back to himself and saw what he had done; the agony of returning to her village only to find them slaughtered by rouge youkai at Naraku's orders; the helplessness of watching their little brother roam the earth in a trance, controlled by the very thing that their village was sworn to protect, a pawn in Naraku's game. Then she would rip out his heart the way he had done her when he decided Kohaku's usefulness had run out and he stole the shard from him, leaving him to die alone in the forest knowing that Inuyasha and their friends would show up on that very path too late to save him.

Somewhere deep within her, hope stirred. Her brother was free now…free from Naraku's grasp, free from the pain, free from the memories…If her gentle brother had had to live with the knowledge and memory of what he had done at Naraku's bidding, would he have been better off?

"_Ane-ue," Kohaku called, bounding up to her as she repaired a crack in Hiraikotsu, cradling something in his arms, "look what I found, Sango." He opened his arms slightly to reveal a small blue bird, it's wing hanging open at it's side. The creature shivered in her brother's arms. "Its wing is broken. Will you help me bandage it?"_

_Sango set Hiraikotsu across her lap and had him set the bird on the large boomerang so she could get a better look. "Kohaku, you're supposed to be practicing, not nursing injured animals."_

_The boy sighed and scuffed his heel in the dirt. "I know, Ane-ue, but I couldn't just leave him there to be eaten by some animal or something. Besides," he added quietly, "I'm not any good at the sickle."_

"_And you're never going to get any better if you don't practice." Sango scooped up the injured blue bird in one arm and stood up, easily taking Hiraikotsu in her free hand. "I'll bandage its wing if you'll go back to practicing. And no more birds or dogs or rabbits or whatever else you find - at least not until this one's better, alright?" She gave him a smile. "You're better than you think you are, Kohaku, and even father was just saying how proud he is of you."_

_At that the boy's face lit up and he looked up at her, hope shining in eyes so much like her own. "Really?"_

"_Yes, really. His son is going to follow in his footsteps and become a taijiya, of course he's proud. And so am I."_

No, Kohaku could have never lived with the knowledge that he had harmed his own family. If he had lived and had remembered that night…he wouldn't have been her little brother anymore. It would have made him into something unrecognizable, the gentleness would be gone and he would never be happy.

Miroku saw the flash of emotions that flew across Sango's face. Surprise, anger, sorrow, hope, all played in her eyes within the seconds since she had turned around. His own violet black eyes were saddened by the sight before him. Her brother had died the night he slew the taijiya family. What had remained had been no more than a shell, like Kikyo.

Briefly his eyes flicked to the side to rest upon the small stone grave marker with Kikyo's name engraved upon it. She had been killed as well, her ashes returned to the memorial where they had once rested. Unlike Sango, the hanyou's grief was much harder to detect or to soothe because he kept it locked so deep within him that it seemed he was almost indifferent to the priestess' death though they knew that he was not because they had seen the look in his golden eyes when he found her there, broken on the banks of the stream. Naraku had poisoned her and forced the dead souls from her body until all that remained was the small part of Kagome's soul which had refused to be expelled by the quasi hanyou. When Kagome had tried to purify the miasma, as she had done once before, Kikyo had simply let go and returned what she had so long ago stolen.

"Sango-sama," he said quietly, "I did not mean to disturb you. I simply wish to inform you that dinner is prepared when you are ready to return." Absently his hand wandered to her cheek, brushing away her tears with the pad of his thumb.

Somewhere in her mind Sango seemed to register that this was an unusual act for the monk who, when his hand wandered, usually caressed a different cheek. However, for the time being it was a distant and unimportant thought. "Arigatou gozaimazu, Houshi-sama, I won't be much longer," she said, her voice cracking slightly. "I…I just had to speak with Kohaku…"

Miroku furrowed his brow slightly as more tears made their way down her cheeks. Kneeling in front of her, he set his staff to the side and took out a handkerchief, provided by Kagome, and handed it to her. "Sango, do you believe that Kohaku-kun is happy now?"

"I hope that he is," she replied and used the cloth to dry her cheeks then tried to hand it back to him, but he shook his head, motioning for her to keep it. "I think he is with Chichi-ue and the others now and that they have forgiven him just as I did. Hai, I do believe that he is happy now."

Miroku looked at the grave marker that indicated Kohaku's resting place, engraved with his name. "I do not believe that he is." When her eyes widened in shock that he would say such a thing to her, he slowly brought his gaze to rest on her once more. "I believe that he is unhappy because he knows that he has caused you pain."

"No." Her denial was forceful and she pulled away from the monk, turning away from him. "I forgave him for what he did to Chichi-ue and the others. I forgave him for what he did while under Naraku's control. He was not himself. He knows now that I have forgiven him."

Miroku stood, coming to stand in front of her once more, putting a hand on each shoulder so that she could not move away. When she turned her head away from him, he took her chin in his hand, brining her back to look in his eyes. "That is not what I mean," he said gently. "Sango, it has been over a month. You have to begin to heal at some point and move on with your life. It is what Kohaku would want. His spirit cannot rest peacefully until he knows that you have begun to recover."

Her eyes widened and her breath left her body, then, without warning, she fell against him, grasping the material of his robes in her fists, shattering sobs shaking her body as he brought his arms around her, holding her until she had calmed enough that she could breathe almost normally. Without realizing it, he had started to stroke her hair and back in an attempt to soothe her and she continued to lean against him after the tears had stopped.

Finally she moved so she could look up at him. "You called me Sango…just Sango…"

His smile was simple, not like the prince charming, all pearly whites, that he used on other girls. This one was sincere. "Well, we are promised to be wed."

She blushed, realizing he was correct. He had, in essence, asked her to marry him and she had readily accepted, but that had been a long time ago and he was only _now_ beginning to treat her as his betrothed? Wait, that wasn't true. Hadn't he refrained from inappropriately touching other women shortly after that? She tried to recall the last time he had been caught with his hand on some other woman's bum, but couldn't. And he had begun to walk solely with her when they walked or shared Kirara when they used the neko youkai for transportation. It also hadn't been long after that that he had begun to sleep slightly closer to her at night. She had not noticed before, having been too preoccupied with all the things he _had_ done to make her feel as if his proposition had been nothing more than a flight of fancy, a spur of the moment whim for him and she'd begun to wonder if she had misinterpreted his meaning.

"Miroku…" His name on her lips sounded strange and yet felt so natural. "Thank you, Miroku."

He nodded and kissed her forehead, causing them both to blush, before opening his arms so she could step out of his embrace. Once he had retrieved his staff, he waited for Sango to say farewell to her brother and the two of them started back down the hill towards Kaede's hut.

She glanced at him from the side and tentatively reached out, taking his cursed hand in hers, blushing. He had tried to communicate his intentions towards her in little ways that she had been to blind and too suspicious to recognize and now it was her turn to show him that she intended to hold him to that promise because she had realized something when he held her and she cried her sorrows out on his robes: letting go of and saying goodbye to someone you loved was never easy, but it made the pain a little more bearable to know that there is someone beside you, supporting you and loving you.

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A/N: I know that in the show Sango and Miroku call each other by their given names, but in the manga she always refers to him as Houshi-sama and he calls her Sango-sama. If you'll remember in the manga when Koga and Inuyasha met for the first time, Koga called out to Kagome by just her name with no tag added and Inuyasha got mad and screamed at him not to call her so familiarly…that's why I had Miroku calling Sango with no tag and her calling him Miroku and why she was surprised when he called her just Sango…

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He did not come to dinner. 

The mood in the cabin had lightened a bit when Shippou and Kirara had come in, panting after exerting themselves in a game of chase and her spirits had brightened just a little more when Miroku and Sango entered the cabin hand in hand and smiling at one another. She would have to speak with Sango about what had gone one when the monk went to get her for dinner. This sudden change in attitudes was definitely gossip worthy.

But the burst of normalcy had diminished quickly when they had finished eating and the hanyou, who was always hungry and never turned down a meal in all the yeas she'd known him, had still not appeared. He had probably been waiting for Sango to finish her prayers at Kohaku's grave so that he could visit Kikyo's in private and had most certainly lost track of time, they decided, and there was no need to worry.

But when the sun set and the moon rose overhead and he still had not come, the uneasiness in her stomach had suddenly twisted and knotted itself into worry. And when the kitsune cub fell asleep in her lap, the fire starting to die out, and he still had not returned, the knot of worry had become full blown panic.

Kagome maneuvered herself so that she could reach her pillow and set it next to her and then shifted the kit so that he was curled on it instead of her legs. It was soft and warm from the fire and held her scent so that he should not awaken before her return, she decided and stood up. "I'm going to find Inuyasha. Something may have happened to him. It's not like him to not show up for a meal."

Sango nodded, her brows knitted with worry also. "Take Kirara with you." The fire neko, upon hearing her name, stood and stretched, yawning slightly.

"Mreow."

Kagome nodded and walked out, holding the door so that Kirara could trot out behind her. Once out in the open the tiny youkai took on her full form, fiery feet and all, and walked slowly beside the human miko towards the forest of the Goshinboku. It was his favorite place and the first place she would suspect him to be, but before they could get there, Kirara turned in another direction, pausing only slightly to indicate that Kagome should follow her.

They found him in the grass in front of Kikyo's grave marker, sitting there cross legged, staring straight ahead, wind blowing his silver hair slightly off his back. He'd been there for quite some time, probably since Sango and Miroku left, and showed no signs of moving.

Stopping a good ways back from the hill, Kagome put a hand on Kirara's back, lightly rubbing the fur there in an effort to soothe her own self. He was probably worried that Urasue or someone like her would attempt to steal Kikyo's ashes and burial soil and once again resurrect the priestess. She whom he had not been able to protect in life, he would be sure to protect in death.

She sat down, drawing her knees under her and Kirara lay beside her, offering her large body for warmth. Despite the fact that the days were warm, the nights were still chilly and she still wore the thin yukata which ended just below her knees and, unlike with her school uniform, her legs were bare with only a pair of sandals covering her feet. Gratefully, she snuggled up to the large cat and put an arm around her back.

She didn't approach him because she didn't want to disturb him, only to know that he was safe. She had planned to leave once she discovered his location, but he seemed so…depressed as he sat there, shoulders hunched over, eyes locked on the stone marker, that she wanted to comfort him though she knew he'd never allow it. She just couldn't leave him alone like that…

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He knew she was there from the second she and the oversized feline had walked up, but he didn't acknowledge her presence with so much as a flick of his ear. He kept his gaze straight ahead, away from her in the hopes that she would give up on him and return to Kaede's home where she belonged, tucked away in her warm sleeping bag and getting the rest he knew she needed. 

But she didn't.

Instead she insisted on staying where she was, far enough away that she wouldn't disturb him and yet close enough that the cool night breeze carried her unique lavender and rose scent to his sensitive nose. That was how he knew she had not left, but had chosen to stay and watch over him for as long as he decided to stay at the grave site. Baka girl. It wasn't like he needed someone to protect him. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself and, in fact, he was the one they relied on to protect them, not the other way around.

His first idea was that if he ignored her then she might give up and go back and so he continued to sit in the grass and stare off into the starry night sky, pretending he didn't realize she was there. He knew Kagome was stubborn. Hell, she was near as stubborn as he was and that was what had caused most of their fights. He also knew that once she got an idea into her head, it was a long and difficult process to get it out again. That's why it was always so hard…and loud…when they had to deal with her notions of going home. Loud was the reason she usually won. Girls, he had to admit, were just better at screaming than guys were. They could raise the pitch of their voice to a high toned screech whenever they desired and such noises were very harsh on his delicate ears. That's why, in an attempt to make the abuse to the aforementioned appendages cease, he would give in.

That she sometimes cried had nothing to do with it. Those crocodile tears that would stream down her face and cloud her blue eyes meant absolutely nothing to him.

Nada. Zilch. Nunca. Niente. Nothing.

It was just more proof that she was a weak bitch, right?

And he especially didn't give in because she used _that_ word - that word that activated the damn rosary. Humiliating, that thing was. Sure, he was an inu hanyou and, yeah, his dad was an inu youkai, but he wasn't just _any_ old dog daemon. He was a tai youkai, Lord of the Western Lands. For him, the youngest son of Inutaishou, tai youkai, being told to 'sit' like some common mongrel was totally and utterly humiliating.

And it hurt!

He would, of course, never show or admit to pain, especially when it was caused by some human girl, but having one's face impact the ground with a force hard enough to create a crater in one's wake was _painful._ Did she think that just because he was a hanyou that he didn't feel it? Of course he felt it! The same way he felt it when Sesshomaru had rammed his hand through his stomach or the many times he'd been run through with a sword or a tentacle or whatever else his enemies could find.

The fact that he didn't tell anyone for them to know that it hurt never crossed his mind. To admit pain was to admit weakness and he was not about to admit he was weak. If he were to say something, they might not consider him good enough to protect them anymore and they might leave then he'd be alone again.

He did _not_ want to be alone.

Just the thought scared him. For years he'd been alone after his mother had died until he had met Kikyo.

Kikyo.

She had offered him a respite from the emptiness, the loneliness that had been consuming him for years. She had been his companion, his confidante, his friend and his chosen mate. He'd had every intention of using the Shikon no Tama to become human so that he and Kikyo could live their lives together and be happy. But he had lost her to betrayal, to foul trickery and to death only to have her return half a century later with promises that they would be together in hell once the jewel had been restored.

Now she was gone again, once more dying at Naraku's hands. And once more he had been unable to protect her. She was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.

Inuyasha focused his attention behind him to pick up any movements in the girl's location, but could only hear the far away rumble of Kirara's purring. The neko youkai must have been enjoying a good rub down. He knew how those felt from the few times that Kagome had been able to scratch his ears without being batted away. For some odd reason the human seemed to be obsessed with his ears and usedevery available opportunity to put her hands on them, squealing about how soft and fuzzy they were. They were just ears…and just a reminder of what he was, a half breed. As if he needed to be reminded. Of course, the girl seemed to enjoy _that_ fact too, speaking as if it were something to be proud of.

Nothing about Kagome made sense.

Resisting the urge to turn his head and see just what the girl was up too, he brought his golden gaze back down to the stone grave marker. If Kikyo had continued to roam the Earth until the shards were recovered, would he have really followed her to hell? There had been a time when he would have gladly died, when something inside of him had actually hoped that his next attempt to steal the jewel would lead to Kikyo aiming her arrow with the intention to cause death. There had been a time when he cursed her because she spared his life again and again and again, prolonging his agony.

Did he still want to die?

If his life were to end, who would protect them, his pack? Who would fetch Kagome when she lingered too long in her time? Then…if the jewel were reassembled, there would be no reason to fetch Kagome…she'd be back at her home to stay with no further reason to travel back and forth through the well.

He couldn't say when, but at some point during their journey together it had become natural to have her with him and then it had grown to a point where he wanted - needed - her with him in a way that he had never needed anyone before.

Did he still want to die?

No. He didn't.

* * *

Something warm was being draped over her, something that smelt of grass and woodlands. She snuggled into the warmth only to find a gentle pressure on her waist and thighs before feeling the sensation that she was weightless. Her eyelids fluttered as she struggled to lift herself from the fog of sleep and find out just what was going on, but her body's desire to stay in that restful relaxation was becoming much too strong. When had she fallen asleep anyway? The last thing she remembered was scooting closer to Kirara for warmth and waiting for Inuyasha to come back to the cabin… 

"..nu...a…sha…" she tried in vain to make her mouth work, but could only elicit a sleep induced mumble and reach for whatever cradled her until she gripped a soft warm material in her fist. She was only barely aware that she was moving before the fog once more trapped her in dreamland.

* * *

Stupid girl. Did she plan to sit out there all night? She was going to catch her death of cold trying something like that. He'd really have to knock some sense into her now. 

With that thought in mind, he stood up and walked over to her and the neko youkai who looked up at him with large red eyes as if to ask what took him so long. "Keh," he muttered and looked down at the girl who had fallen asleep, leaning against the youkai's midsection, her arm draped over the feline's back and her head resting on her arm. She still wore the short, thin piece of material that Sango had tried to pass off as a yukata, swearing it was not _that_ indecent. The girl shivered in her sleep and he undid his haori, draping it over her legs and shoulders. Immediately she curled up farther, bringing more of her exposed flesh beneath the makeshift blanket.

Hanyou and youkai exchanged glances before he knelt down and scooped her up into his arms, bridal style, careful not to jar her and wake her. The neko stood and stretched, yawning so that her large fangs were exposed before she blinked and walked in time with Inuyasha, back to the old woman's hut.

"…nu…a…sha…"

He looked down, relieved to find her still asleep, unsure if he could have stood to have her conscious while he carried her. There were to many thoughts circling his mind for him to be able to talk to her right then. He had failed to protect Kikyo after promising her that he would. He couldn't stand to think what his life would be like if he were to fail to protect Kagome…if something were to happen to the young woman cradled in his arms…just the idea made his stomach knot.

* * *

Glossary: 

1. yukata: _a thin kimono; somtimes referred to as a bathrobe; also a light summer kimono_  
2. Sengoku Jidai: _Feudal Era; Warring States Era_  
3. taijiya: _youkai slayer; daemon exterminator_  
4. miko: _Shinto priestess_  
5. Shikon no Tama: _Jewel of Four Souls; Sacred Jewel_  
6. Shikon no Miko: _priestess of the Shikon; a title I've seen in referrence to Kagome_  
7. youkai: _daemon_  
8. hanyou: _half daemon/half human_  
9. haori: _formal overcoat_  
10. osuwari: _sit command for a dog_  
11. kami: _god_  
12. -sama: _a high title like 'Lord' or 'Lady' or 'Sir'_  
13. baka: _fool; idiot; stupid_  
14. gomen ne: _I'm sorry (informal)_  
15. obaa: _grandmother_  
16. ane-ue: _sister_  
17. arigatou gozaimazu: _thank you very much_  
18. houshi: _a lower level Budist priest_  
19. -kun: _a polite friendly term used with peers or among friends_  
20. chichi-ue: _father_  
21. hai: _yes_  
22. neko: _cat  
_23. kitsune: _fox_  
24. Goshinboku: _God Tree; Sacred Tree  
_25. tai youkai: _youkai lord; king_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I'm not going to write about the battle with Naraku because the point of the story is not the battles, but the relationships between the characters. So, therefore I'm skipping the battle scenes and going to afterwards.  
_

**Scroll Three: Closure**

"The ramen's cooked, Inuyasha," Kagome called and dished several lumps of noodles into a bowl, setting it aside for him. "It's your favorite flavor, too. I bought extra the last time I went home."

She turned back to the cooking pot and fixed a serving for Shippou and the rest of them.

"Would you like anything…" She'd turned back to where she set the bowl to see if he wanted something with it, but the swift hanyou had already gotten his meal and jumped back into the safety of the tree. "I guess not."

Kagome sighed and sat with her back against a tree, looking at the completed Shikon no Tama in her hands. Her bowl of ramen sat, forgotten, next to her. The jewel glittered a pinkish color even though the jewel itself was white while in her hands. The leaves above her rustled and she glanced up to see a swash of red cloth. Before she could say anything, however, someone sat beside her. The taijiya, who had become like her sister over the past two years, drew her knees up and looked at the jewel.

"What will you do now?"

It was an innocent enough question and one that should have been easy enough to answer, but, for the now seventeen year old girl from the future, it was the most difficult question in the world. She clasped the necklace back around her neck and cast her cerulean eyes to the ground.

"I don't know," she whispered quietly. "I would like to purify the Shikon no Tama, but I don't know how. Anything we wished for would be twisted and turned evil or considered selfish."

"That's not all that's been bothering you, is it Kagome-chan?" Sango prodded. When Kagome looked at her with wide eyes, she smiled. "It's not hard to see you've been down. I think you seemed happier before the jewel was finished."

Kagome sighed. Was she really that readable? "No, it's just, well, when Naraku was alive and I had to find the shards, there was a reason for me to keep traveling through the well, but now…"

"Is coming to see us not reason enough, Kagome-sama?"

Miroku's question startled her as she had not realized the monk had been listening.

"We would miss you terribly were you to go. Even Inuyasha, although he would never admit it."

"Mind your own business, monk," came the heated reply from above them.

Kagome looked up, but couldn't see much more than a swatch of his hakama.

"Then you wouldn't care if Kagome-sama were to go home for good?" Miroku couldn't hide his grin. Though he and Shippou had different ways of annoying the hanyou, both enjoyed the pastime.

"I never said that. I said it wasn't none of your business."

Kagome sighed again. Anger was Inuyasha's way of covering the hurt. He was still grieving over Kikyo's death and she seemed to be the only one who understood that. She didn't say that she'd been wondering if he really did want her to leave. The way he'd been treating her was so different from before. Once he had told her that he needed her and once she had known that if she were to leave he would miss her, but now, after everything that had happened, she couldn't help but wonder if he had changed his mind. But she couldn't get angry because she couldn't really blame him if he _did_ want her to go home. She just had to know.

"Leave him alone now, Miroku-sama," Kagome said softly. "Inuyasha? I need to stretch my legs. Come with me?" The hanyou landed gracefully behind her as she stood up. "If Shippou wakes up before we get back tell him I'll be back in a minute." She stuffed her hands in her jean pockets and followed the brooding hanyou into the trees.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," Kagome said quietly, her back turned towards him and her hands jammed into the pockets of her jeans, the sleeves of her yukata shoved up to her elbows. "It's my fault, isn't it? I didn't want to believe it at first because I never meant for it to happen, but I see now that I'm still to blame even though my intentions were good."

She was about to cry. He could smell her tears and it brought on the same reaction in him that it always did. He panicked. Add on to that the fact that he was lost as to what she was rambling on about and he was one flustered little hanyou.

"Kagome…"

She turned towards him, determined to look him in the face when she apologized, even if he wouldn't meet her eyes. Her bangs cast a shadow over her eyes, but the light of the half moon that filtered down through the leaves reflected in the shimmering drops rolling down both cheeks.

It wasn't as if she'd _wanted_ to cry. She had, in fact, been trying desperately for hours to avoid doing that very thing, but talking to Inuyasha - alone - face to face and knowing what she was about to say…it cut through her like a knife; broke her heart and split her soul ten thousand times more painfully than the first time, when Kikyo had tried to steal it.

A part of her belonged here. A piece of her had found the home she'd always searched for and never knew was missing until the idea that she would lose it for good had slid into her mind. But no matter how much it hurt to leave and say good bye, she had to go. She couldn't stand to see that pain in Inuyasha's eyes and know that she was the one who put it there, not after she had worked so hard these past two years to heal him, to mend his heart and the wounds so many years of loss had caused. By staying she had believed she was continuing to heal him, but now she realized the truth: her presence caused him pain.

"Kagome…"

It wasn't until he spoke again, practically whispering her name in a strained way that Kagome realized she'd just stood there looking at him, in a sort of trance. When he opened his mouth to say more, she shook her head, putting her finger up as if to silence him but never touched his lips.

"Don't Inuyasha," she said, voice cracking, "Please, don't say anything. Just let me say this. I _need_ to say this." Her hand fell back to her side. "I won't pretend to understand what I am to you. I know you care about me, about my well-being, and I'm almost certain that I was more than just a shard detector. You are _my_ best friend, Inuyasha. I only ever wanted you to be happy. I really wanted her to live, you know? I wanted to help her, because I knew that if she died again, it would hurt you and I can't stand to see you hurting.

"I know your sense of honor and loyalty would never let you forget her or let her wander the earth without resolution. I knew it even when I would get upset because you left me to see her. It's just one of the things I admire most about you and it's why I was always willing to forgive you for it.

"I never meant for it to happen, my soul returning to my body. I don't even know _how_ it happened. Maybe if I hadn't been so close. Maybe if I hadn't spoken to her or tried to purify the miasma or touched her…I don't know. I just know that whatever misguided actions I took, I killed her. She died because of me and it hurt you - _I_ hurt you. I know you blame me and you should. I'm not arguing that fact. I just needed to say that so that I could work up the guts to say this. I'm going home, Inuyasha. You won't have to have me as a reminder anymore. I put the Shikon no Tama back together. My responsibility has been fulfilled."

Her eyes had drifted back down to the forest floor, unable to watch him as she spoke, not wanting to see the confirmation in his face. "Please, just take me back to the hot springs. I need to wash my face before I go back to the others." She wrapped her arms around herself, head bowed, waiting. "We should get back to Kaede-obaa's by tomorrow evening, ne?"

Inuyasha stared at her. "Yeah…we'll be there before sundown," he answered, throat suddenly dry. Why was she doing this? And then acting all weird, not giving him a chance to say anything. Did she really think he blamed her? She couldn't be that dumb, could she?

But wouldn't it be safer if she were to go back to her era? There were hardly any youkai there and she would be safe from them. Kohaku and Kikyo's deaths were proof enough that he had failed as a protector. He had told Kikyo he would protect her and he had let Naraku kill her again. He had made that same promise to Kagome. What if he failed again?

He turned and silently headed in the direction of the hot springs, keeping his pace slow so she could keep an eye on her footing. Yes, he would let her go home to her own era, but he would have to tell her that he did _not_ hold her responsible for Kikyo's death.

At the spring, she knelt and splashed water on her face, washing away any remnants of her earlier tears. When she was done and had dried her hands on her pants leg, she turned, seemingly surprised he was still there, like she had expected him to go off and leave her. _Does she honestly think I would do that? I thought she understood…_

"What are you looking at?" he snapped a little more harshly than he'd meant to. Just the thought that Kagome might not trust him as much as he thought she did scared him. Hadn't he proven to her over and over again his first thought was always for her safety?

"Nothing, Inuyasha. Sorry," she muttered walking past him. "It's just…I thought…we're close to camp…"

"Keh," he growled to mask his hurt at her lack of confidence in him. "Even if I was mad at you, do you really think I'd leave you here, alone, so any ol' youkai could come and kill you?" He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his haori and scowled at her.

"No." Her smile was small and sad. "I know better."

She was on the verge of tears again, the depression in her scent was overwhelming.

"I ain't mad."

His sudden statement caught her off guard and she stopped, turning slowly to look at him. "Eh?"

"I said, I ain't mad so stop acting all weird and stuff."

His scowl was still there and if she didn't know him better, she'd swear he was angry. When she took several steps towards him, he frowned.

"What?"

"You aren't mad at me?" she asked slowly, hopefully, making sure he had no choice but to look directly at her.

"I just said that, wench!" he snapped.

"But you do think that it was my fault?"

He growled again, uncomfortable with the conversation and her intense stare. "No, damnit. I know it wasn't your fault, what happened. Naraku killed Kikyo, not you."

His scowl deepened as she leaned closer to him.

"Really?"

"Look, wench -"

He never got to finish as her fist collided with his upper arm and he yelped in surprise. "What!"

"You….you…jerk!" she exclaimed and hit him again. "I thought you were mad at me. I thought you were blaming me for Kikyo's death and I convinced myself that it had to be true. Baka!" Her fist collided with his arm again.

"Damn it! Stop it, Kagome!" He gently caught her wrist when she tried to hit him again and held her at bay. "Where do you come up with this shit?"

His look was scolding, but his voice was exasperated, as if he did not want to be talking to her about this particular subject. He was a master at masking his emotions, but Kagome had spent a lot of time and energy to be able to translate the little clues he couldn't hide. Little clues like the look in his eyes, the way his ears moved, the tiny growl or whimper in the back of his throat. All these were hidden signs that only she could read and use to decipher his true meaning. What she saw now was that, despite his words and scowling expression, he still wouldn't meet her eyes and his ears were laying back slightly, a movement he only made when he was sad or in pain or afraid.

She shook her head, feeling her own exasperation at their situation. Two months was long enough to let this drag out.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you've been ignoring me?" she accused finally, fists clenching and tugged at the wrist he was holding, easily wrenching herself free from his light hold.

"I am not ignoring you. If I were ignoring you, would I be here now?" His ears lay back further. He'd known it was coming. It'd been building up for months now.

"You might as well be!" she argued and poked him in the chest. "You don't fight with me anymore -"

"I thought you didn't like it when we fought!"

"It's not natural for you!" She threw her hands up in the air before whirling on him again. "The two times I have gone home, you didn't come after me -"

"You always get mad when I do!"

"But at least I felt wanted," she retorted.

She hugged herself around the middle, sighing and looking at the ground by her feet. "You won't look at me. You don't touch me anymore except when you carry me. You used to hold my hand and put your arm around me or even touch my face and hair when I was asleep…"

She smiled sadly, eyes fluttering shut for a second before raising them to look at him. He stared at her chin.

"You don't even do that anymore. Whenever I come around, you disappear into a tree and won't talk or come down till morning. Or if we're at Kaede's you leave the hut and sit at Kikyo's grave or in Goshinboku till I'm not around."

Her voice cracked and she took a deep breath trying not to cry again. "But that's not even the worst part," she continued when she could speak evenly again. "The worst part is that you don't talk to me anymore. I know you're secretive about your past because you don't want it used against you, but I always thought you knew you could trust me. You used to tell me things. You stopped talking, Inuyasha, and that hurt more than anything you could do to me."

His expression was unreadable, blank almost like Sesshomaru's. He hadn't realized…no…that was a lie. He had known what he was doing to her, but he had pretended not to see because it had hurt him to acknowledge that he was hurting her. So he'd convinced himself that she didn't care, she didn't notice the severed bond, didn't feel the distance. She could, after all, manage to get along and move on with her life just fine if he weren't there, but he had come to depend on her more than he ever wanted to depend on anyone. She was his weakness and his strength. Without her he lost his reason to live, to fight, to try. He had to learn to function without her comforting presence. If he was going to continue to protect them, he had to get over his dependency on her.

"You're school starts soon, ne?" he asked, catching her off guard.

"Yes," she answered slowly. "Why? What does that have to do with this?"

"Kagome - when I said I needed you before, I meant that, but I can't keep needing you. You have a life in your era and you're not going to be here."

_And he's been avoiding you because...because he wants to be strong on his own, _she realized. Was he kicking her out of Sengoku Jidai? Did he plan on keeping her away?

"Inuyasha, do you want me to go home for good or not?"

"NO!" For the first time in two months, gold met blue as he finally looked her in the eyes. "Hell no, I don't want you to go wench, but you got stuff you gotta do, ne? You got that school thing and friends and family…"

"But you want me to stay here?" She had to know. She had to hear him say it. If he didn't say those words this whole discussion would mean nothing. She had spent too much time agonizing over her responsibility in Kikyo's demise and she had become insecure and unsure of her place in his life and she needed his affirmation.

"Damn it! Yes, I want you to stay." His growl rumbled in his chest and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Better?"

"Much better." She nodded and took another deep breath, steadying her now frayed nerves. "Take me back to camp, please."

He shook his head, muttering something she didn't quite catch under his breath and passed her, leading the way back to the camp even though she knew the path. She quietly came up beside him, her hands in her pockets again.

"I am going to go home," she said after a few minutes of silence, "but I'll come back. I mean, I won't be here as often or stay as long, but I'm coming back. I have a year left in high school before I'm finished and it'll be the hardest one yet. I'll be going to class every day, but I get a break every five days and I'll be here for those two days. And you're always welcome at the shrine."

He nodded, hands stuffed in the sleeves of his haori. "Then what?"

Kagome shrugged. "I'll figure that out when the time comes, I guess." She sighed. "I told you once that I'd stay with you as long as you wanted me to. I'm not going to go back on that promise."

"Keh, you got that right, wench," he muttered, still looking straight ahead.

She ducked her head and hid a smile, happy to know that he did not blame her and that he did still want him there, just glad that they had finally been able to work out the things that had been plaguing them for the past months.

* * *

Sango watched as Inuyasha and Kagome walked off into the trees and sighed. She still missed her brother, but even she had begun to slowly heal from the wounds his death had caused. Because of Miroku's quiet assurances and Kagome's support, she was able to cope with the loss. However, their hanyou friend seemed to only sink deeper into his own grief and she was truly worried for him. Perhaps he would allow Kagome to help him. It seemed the girl was the only one capable of getting through to him.

"I suppose this means that Kagome-sama will be returning to her home," Miroku commented, coming around the fire to sit next to her. "I imagine that is why she asked Inuyasha to walk with her, to tell him without causing a public scene."

Sango turned her head to look at him, drawing her knees up the way that Kagome so often did, and rested her cheek on them. "Do you think that Inuyasha would argue? There is no reason to now that the jewel has been restored and he's been so quiet lately. He's had very little to do with any of us, even Kagome-chan."

Miroku nodded. "I imagine he has been contemplating the idea that Kagome-sama will leave him now that her duty is done. He was mourning Kikyo-sama's death, but I do not think that he spent all of this time dwelling on that fact alone."

Sango raised her head and nodded, turning to look at the fire once more. They lectured the hanyou quite often about his relationship with Kagome, especially when they had first begun to travel together. They all realized the depth of his feelings for the girl even if he had trouble seeing it for himself.

"You're probably right," she said softly. She had begun to relax in the calmness of the night, but started when she felt something touch her hand. She looked around at the monk who had taken her hand in his and lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles lightly and held it in both of his as if it were quite a natural thing to do.

A soft smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she looked up at him. He had turned his gaze back to the fire before them and absently stroked the top her hand with his thumb. Was this what love felt like? Was this what her mother had felt for her father? Unfortunately she had not been old enough to have had such discussions with her mother before her mother died, and her father…was a man. He raised her as he raised his son. Womanly influence in her life was sporadic and she had no one - besides Kagome-chan who had about as much knowledge of love and life as she did - to go to for advice. _That_ worried her. Her life had been spent training to follow in her father's footsteps, to become a taijiya. Kohaku would have, of course, taken on her father's role as village headman, but she would have been among the greatest of the taijiya clan. Her sole devotion, her main goal, her consuming purpose, had been youkai extermination and learning how to use her various weapons and repair them and make more. _Love_ had never crossed her mind…until she met Miroku.

At what point in their travels had she begun to see him as more than just a lecherous monk? When had she begun to consider him a friend? And then more? When had her heart started skipping a beat whenever he would come near her or speak her name in that smooth, rich voice. When had it become so that she could not imagine never seeing him again, that the thought of not being with him terrified her?

The idea that he had not really meant what he said on the hillside the day he asked her to live with him and bear his children had brought her near to tears on more than one occasion. He had been so sweet and so sincere when he spoke those words, when he had explained his hesitation to ask them of her. She was special. But the thought of marrying scared her too. Without a clue how to be a wife or what wives did, she was almost certain she'd screw it up entirely. Trying to think back to the distant memories of her mother only brought on a headache. She'd been much too young when her mother died to remember her properly.

Shippou whimpered from Kagome's sleeping bag, kicking slightly as if he were having a bad dream. Kirara raised her head, large red eyes blinking to focus on her surroundings before getting up and trotting her small body to the kitsune cub, nosing his shoulder a bit. The cub grunted in an uncharacteristically doglike way that acutely reminded her of someone else they knew. Miroku chuckled under his breath and she too grinned. Poor kit. He was spending too much time with the hanyou and was unknowingly beginning to show the same behavioral patterns.

"Miroku," she said, drawing their attention back away from the neko and kitsune, "you…when the others are here…you don't…it's not like this…"

She couldn't help the blush that had risen to her cheeks even though it was true. When they were alone he was more attentive to her than when they had witnesses - another similar trait she'd noticed in the hanyou. However, unlike Inuyasha, Miroku was not uncivil or rude or distant when they had company. He was just…confined…proper… Never touched below her shoulder, never took her hand, and still referred to her as Sango-sama. Yet, when they were alone, as they were then, with only the neko youkai as their chaperone, he was affectionate and sweet….

And still hentai!

When she hadn't been paying attention, one hand had left hers and was slowly inching its way towards her bottom. Sango stiffened immediately upon notice of this and closed her eyes, mentally counting to ten.

"Do not even consider it," she hissed through clenched teeth. And just when things were so nice!

He grinned and brought his hand back, stroking her palm this time, relaxing her once more.

"Yes…well…I was not sure if you were yet ready for displays of public affection," he answered blushing a bit himself. "You've never seemed comfortable the few times that we were caught in an…intimate…position and I did not want to make you uneasy." His smile was genuine this time. "Kagome-sama and Inuyasha, of course, have known about our arrangement for quite some time -"

"Probably before we did," she interrupted, sounding slightly annoyed and yet amused at the same time.

"You are right about that. They have known for a long time. However, I did not want to pressure you into moving faster than you were prepared to go."

He looked down at her, violet eyes catching a few flickering reflections of the flames. His expression was morbidly serious and made her breath catch in her throat.

"Despite what you may believe, your safety and comfort have always been my first and foremost concern."

"Miroku…I…" What could she possibly say to that? Certainly he'd saved her several times, but…

She didn't have to reply. When she'd started to try and stutter out a response, he had hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her head towards him, slowly lowering his face closer to hers. Their breaths intermingled and she closed her eyes, waiting anxiously for the next moment. A moment, that when it came, left her wondering why she hadn't given in to it sooner. His lips brushed against hers in a gentle, chaste kiss that lasted only a mere breath, but left her mouth tingling from the contact.

He pulled away, finger still under her chin, and she slowly opened her eyes, surprise and pleasure shinning in her dark brown depths as she tried to steady her racing heart. His light and airy assault on her person had left her speechless, unable to believe that he had so tenderly caressed her, had given her something she'd never expected…

Her first kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: It's my birthday! (Or it will be in a few hours) Whoohoo!

* * *

_

**Scroll Four: Explanations  
**

To be quite honest it was something she probably should have done a long time ago, but she had never really known _how_ to say it in a way that would be believable. She had been afraid that they would cast her off as insane and dump her. They had been her best friends since grade school. She didn't connect with them in the same way that she connected with her friends of the Sengoku Jidai, but she still loved them as much as she did her other friends. They deserved an answer. Besides, considering how much else they'd taken in stride about her less than average life, she couldn't help but wonder how they could freak out over this.

And so she'd invited them to stay the night before school started back and they became seniors. The night was filled with promises of movies, snack foods, make up, girly magazines and lots of talking about the latest gossip circulating about their classmates, career futures and college. Well…Eri wouldn't be participating in _that_ discussion. She was sporting a new piece of jewelry that attested to her soon to be independence.

_"I just have to finish high school," the girl had said with a bright smile as she showed off the sparking diamond. "Mama insisted that I graduate high school, but then Ryu-chan and I can get married…"  
_

It was hard to believe that Eri-chan would be getting married soon - and to Sakamoto Ryu no less. The suave and debonair young man reminded her a lot of Miroku-sama. He had a charming quality that lured women to him and he knew exactly how to work them. He was two grades ahead of them and when he and Eri had started dating the year before, Kagome had been suspicious of his motives, but the diligent teen had seemed quite taken with her slightly air headed friend and had proved to be quite faithful and caring. For that, she was grateful and since Eri seemed so happy, it was just another good sign.

She threw another batch of pillows on the floor for them to lay on and draped an old quilt over them. They had wheeled a cart with a small TV on it into her room and set up the VCR so that the girls could watch movies without being bothered by Jii-chan and Souta. The movies she had gotten for them to pick from were stacked next to the cart. Standing back, she tapped her chin with her index finger, looking over her room to see if there was anything else she needed. _Bedding, magazines, make up, movies, snacks…  
_

_  
_"Kagome! Your friends are here!" Her mother's voice drifted up from downstairs and Kagome jumped over piles of pillows to her bedroom door, slowing down just as she reached the steps to keep from falling.

_Deep breath…_

"Kagome-chan!" Ayumi squealed and the two girls hugged each other, Ayumi's sleeping bag between them. Two months was a long time to go without seeing your best friends. Sometimes leading a double life was really, really hard. The other girls shifted their overnight bags to embrace their friend also.  
_  
Count to three…  
_  
"Hey guys! You can just drop your stuff by the door. I've got blankets and pillows piled in the floor and there's some bags of chips and stuff up there already. I've got tons of movies and stuff," she said, leading the girls up the stairs although they already knew the way.

Eri and Yuka had passed her on the stairs and Ayumi passed her once they were on the landing. Souta came out of his room, looking a little displeased with having so many girls in the house for the night. They had already gone into her room and turned on the light, discarding their things and searching for the perfect spot to settle in.

"Nee-chan, when are you going to go get Shippou-chan? You promised you'd bring him so that I wouldn't have to put up with all you girls," he whined, putting on his best Inuyasha pout. The kitsune had traveled the well with her several times in the past year. The first time had been experimental, but after that he had insisted on coming to be near her. "Do you think Inu-no-nii-chan would come too? Shippou-chan's good at video games and all, but Inu-no-nii-chan rocks!"

Yuka had come back out to the top of the stairs, the other girls trailing behind. "Who's Shippou?"

_And off the diving board… _

"Ah…He's…well…He's my…son…well, not _really_, but I did kinda adopt him…" She stumbled over her words. This had not been how she was planning to tell them. Making a mental note to kill her little brother later, she closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Everyone, I really have to talk to you."

"I'd say," Eri said, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing Kagome with a pointed look. "When'd you adopt a kid?"

"Eri-chan, it's a really, really long story." She sighed and shook her head. "But I think I should go get Shippou first. I did promise them. You can all come with me if you like…"

Of course she wasn't really going to take them to the Sengoku Jidai. She'd just take them to the well house and let them watch while she disappeared. That should give her story _some_ credit. And well…seeing the kitsune should do the rest. Despite his kitsune magic, the child still refused to alter his lower half to match his upper half in a more human appearance and so he still walked around on the hind legs of a fox.

"That's a good idea, I think." Eri nodded in agreement and the three followed their secretive friend back down the stairs and out into the shrine house courtyard. "I can't believe you've been keeping a child from us."

Kagome sighed. She really should have been more honest with them. They _were_ her friends. They'd understand, right? "I know, I know…but…I just didn't know how. I mean, the circumstances were pretty…special and kinda…unbelievable."

"Why are we at the well house?" Yuka's question was perfectly innocent and very legitimate. Normally if she were going to go get someone they would have headed for the temple steps and the streets of Tokyo…not a shrine.

Kagome slid the door open and motioned them inside, kneeling shortly to pick up four flashlights that she had left for this very purpose. After passing one to each girl and keeping one for herself, she led them down, speaking as she walked.

"Even though I've been trying to figure out how to tell you all this, I haven't come up with anything that's acceptable. I'm just kinda…winging it." She stopped and sat on the lip of the well, turning her flashlight on. "Look, I _do_ have to go get Shippou and this is the way I have to go."

"Kagome-chan, I hate to tell you this," Ayami said gently, as if talking to a child, "but you're not making any sense."

Kagome actually laughed. She wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know. How do you make sense out of the illogical? "I know and I'm sorry. Okay…well, you're gonna think I've spent to much time with jii-chan, but here goes. This well is older than this shrine. It has stood in this exact same place for well over six hundred years and to my knowledge it has been dry for all of that time. It is made from the wood of the Tree of Ages. Now, when Kikyo -"

"As in the girl Inuyasha was two timing you with?" Eri interrupted.

Kagome's face paled and she was glad that the girls were not able to see her reaction in the dim light. "Yeah, that one. When Kikyo-sama told me that about the Tree of Ages I don't know if she was talking about the Goshinboku or if she meant Menomaru's tree, but either way, the wood itself is ancient for the Tree of Ages has stood since the beginning.

"According to Kaede it was built not as a place to gather water, but as a place to dispose of youkai remains so as not to contaminate the ground with their venom. The wood of the Tree of Ages was chosen because of its supposed spiritual powers and, once the construction was completed, it was blessed by the local miko of the time. After that any time a youkai was killed in the area surrounding the village, the remains were brought and dumped into the well where they would remain for less than a day before they would mysteriously vanish. That is how the well became known as the Bone Eater's Well."

The girls nodded and Eri shifted, going to sit on the bottom step. Ayami joined her while Yuka leaned against the railing. "Okay, we get the origins of the well, but what does that have to do with Shippou?" the latter questioned.

"Everything," Kagome answered. "That's only a small part of it. Because of the well's origins, as well a combination of several other factors, if I were to jump over the edge of the well right now I would be transported from this era to Sengoku Jidai."

"Really, Kagome…"

"No, don't say it, Ayumi-chan. I know how crazy it sounds, believe me. If I hadn't been doing it for the past two years even I wouldn't believe it."

She motioned for them to come closer. Once they'd come to the well, she turned so that her legs dangled over inside of it. "Point your lights to the bottom and watch. I'm gonna go get Shippou now…Oh! I almost forgot, when you see him try and be nice. He doesn't look like the boys you know…"

"Kagome - " Yuka had started to say something, but was cut off when Kagome pushed herself off the edge and began a free fall to the bottom. In a flash of blue light that lit the well house, she was gone, leaving her friends frantically searching the cavern at the bottom of the ancient well for her figure and coming up empty handed.

**

* * *

"Oi!" Inuyasha's voice held an annoyed tone as he looked down over the lip of the well at her sudden appearance. "It's about time you got here, wench. The brat's starting to give me a headache."**

"Kagome-kaa!" A bundle of red fur leapt over the edge and landed in her waiting arms. "I thought you weren't gonna come get me!"

She hugged the kitsune cub to her and rubbed his head. "Of course I came! I said I would, didn't I? I had to wait till my friends got there, though." She smiled and looked up at the brooding hanyou. "Are you gonna come get me out so I can jump again or just stand there pouting?"

He growled and leapt, landing next to her in the small space. "Why don't you just climb out?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and leaping up again. "That why you had that stupid ladder put up anyway, ne?"

"But it's so much easier this way." She smiled innocently as he landed in a crouch on the ground outside the well. "Thank you, Inuyasha." She gave his head a light pat which earned her another growl in return and she giggled. "Souta wanted me to ask if you'd come back with us. He got a new video game yesterday that he's anxious to show you."

The hanyou made a face of pure disgust. "Your girl friends are already there, aren't they?"

She giggled again. "Yeah, they are, but you'd be in Souta's room, safe from their assault." He wasn't going to go for it. Her friends worried him with their constant barrage of questions and squeals over his beautiful hair and gorgeous eyes. "I'll tell him you were…uh…fighting a youkai and couldn't come? Sound good?"

"And make it a good one, wench." His usual smirk settled over his features as he tucked his hands into the sleeves of his haori.

"Yes, of course. Huge, gigantic and ugly with poisonous venom and razor sharp claws as long as you are tall. A deadly foe against any except for the magnificent Inuyasha."

Shippou snorted and was nearly clobbered for his reaction, but scrambled onto Kagome's shoulder, hiding under her hair.

"See you tomorrow, Inuyasha! Ja ne!" She leapt back over the lip of the well with a laugh of her own.

* * *

Another flash of blue startled the girls from their search for Kagome. They had started looking behind crates and boxes and had even climbed down the ladder into the well to look for a secret passage, but had come up empty handed.

"I'm back!" The cheerful call brought them back to the well's edge as they watched Kagome climbing the ladder, something perched on her shoulder.

"Everyone, this is my son, Shippou," she said sweetly, patting his head absently. "Shippou, these are my friends: Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka." She pointed to each in turn and smiled. "Come on, let's get back to the house so that you and Souta can get caught up."

When they entered the sunlight and they got a good look at the young boy for the first time, Ayumi gasped, eyes going wide. "Kagome-chan! He's…so…"

"KAWAII!" Yuka and Eri finished, squealing. Shippou's eyes widened as he was nearly tackled by three teen girls, reaching for his tail and bushy red hair.

"Awww! How'd you get a tail?" Yuka asked.

"I was born with it."

"Look at that red hair!" Eri gasped. "What an unusual color."

"No, it's not. Most kitsune have reddish color hair."

"Most what?" Ayami tilted her head in confusion, looking to Kagome for explanation.

"I'll tell you once we're all comfortable in my room."

* * *

The girls were lounging on their sleeping bags and the pillows that Kagome had provided. Each had a soft drink and there was a bowl of chips in the center of their little circle. Occasionally one would reach over and grab a handful.

"Alright, we're comfortable, now spill," Ayumi demanded.

Kagome sighed and resituated her pillow. "Well, you know all those legends jii-chan tells? Turns out, they're true." At her friends disbelieving expressions, she smiled. "I know, I didn't think it was possible either, but turns out…"

"We don't pay much attention to his stories, but they're kinda far out, you know?" Eri explained.

"Believe me, I know, but…" She shrugged and tugged at the chain that held the Shikon no Tama around her neck. It sparkled and twirled as she held it out for them to see.

"This is called the Shikon no Tama. It was created hundreds of years ago by a miko named Midoriko. She was very powerful and she could dispel youki like it was nothing. In order to defeat her and regain control, a bunch of lesser youkai consumed the body of a man who lusted after her and the two engaged in battle. She was unable to defeat him, but just as he went in for the kill, she used every last bit of strength that she had and forced her soul out with his and the two merged, creating the Shikon no Tama.

"For centuries since then, her soul and the soul of the evil youkai have continued to battle inside of the stone. If someone with a good heart and a pure power holds the jewel, then Midoriko-sama holds power over the youkai and the jewel is pure. If someone with evil or with malicious intent holds the jewel, it becomes corrupted and the youkai holds power over Midoriko-sama."

"And that's the real jewel?" Eri asked curiously, breathlessly.

Kagome nodded. "Yep. Supposedly only Kikyo and me are able to keep the jewel purified for extensive amounts of time. Some others were able to purify the shards for a short time. Miroku-sama and Sango both did… But Miroku-sama's a monk so that's a given I guess…although he is a lecherous monk..."

"Kagome," Yuka complained, "you're getting ahead of yourself. Who are Miroku and Sango?"

Kagome blushed. This was gonna be difficult. "Oh…yeah…"

* * *

It took nearly two hours for the entire telling to be finished. A lot of explanations and many, many interruptions later, Kagome took a deep breath, relieved to have that off of her chest.

"So, now you know why I missed so much school and just who Inuyasha really is." She looked from one girl to another anxiously, trying to gauge their reactions.

Eri was the first to recover. "Why didn't you just tell us?" She looked a little depressed.

Ayumi nodded. "Yeah, why? Didn't you think you could trust us? Haven't we known you long enough for that?"

Kagome sighed, shaking her head. "It's not that, really. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should have. I really should have, but I was afraid that you'd think I was crazy and you'd stop talking to me. I mean, it really is far fetched, you know?"

Yuka nodded, just as upset as her other friends. "Still, Kagome, we're your friends. You should have known you could trust us. You should have told us."

Kagome looked at her hands in her lap, feeling guilty for having kept it from them for all these years. It seemed that she had not given her friends the credit that they deserved. They liked Inuyasha and they understood that there was something different about him though they never really knew what it was. She _should_ have trusted them.

"Kagome," Eri started and then stopped, taking a deep breath. "Kagome, there was a time when we told each other everything. I want to go back to that. You guys are the best friends that I've ever had and I don't want to lose you all just because we're getting older and our lives are getting more complicated."

"A lot more complicated in Kagome-chan's case." Yuka giggled and nudged the other girl teasingly.

Kagome smiled brightly and nudged her back. "Well, then I guess I can tell you the rest, huh?" They nodded enthusiastically. "I'm not going to college."

It was a simple enough statement, but it had every single one of her friends picking their jaws up off the floor. This was the same girl who had worked so hard for so many years to keep her grades in check. Despite traveling back and forth through time and missing so much school, she had managed to pull her grades back up. And this same girl was sitting there, declaring that she wasn't going to go to college? What was all that work for then?

"Why?" Ayami frowned. "That's not like you, Kagome. You dreamed of going to college. It was your goal, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember, but then things changed." Kagome sighed and picked up a pillow, hugging it to herself. "My life became a fairytale. I can't go to Sengoku Jidai and stay here and go to college. It's too hard. High school's been bad enough. I'm tired of it. I need a vacation - I _deserve_ a vacation. We just finished saving the world, after all."

"Really, Kagome, be serious. I know that Naraku character was really filthy, but 'saving the world'?"

Ayami and Eri giggled at Yuka's admonishment while Kagome only fixed her with a glare. "It couldn't have been that bad…the future didn't alter none even when he was roaming Sengoku Jidai, before you knew you'd kill him."

"Besides," Eri added, "It's not like youkai are running rampant today so his life couldn't have made that big a difference."

Kagome fixed her with a glare also. If she'd had rosaries on the girls they'd have been face planted into the dirt. Of _course_ it would have been bad!

"Okay, first off, Yuka-chan, it's 'didn't alter _any_' not 'none'. And, yes, it could have been that bad. You never met Naraku. And secondly, Eri-chan, I'll have you know that there are youkai walking around today, but they do a very good job of disguising themselves. In fact, next time you talk to Ryu-kun ask him about his dragon ancestors. He happens to be at least one-forth dragon youkai, if not more."

Eri stared at her wide-eyed, sputtering for something to say, unable to come up with an appropriate comment. She had not known that her friend could do that. How could she -

"How on earth do you know that?" Ayumi demanded before she could form the thought.

Kagome smiled and crossed her arms over her chest triumphantly, giving them her best Inuyasha impression smirk. "Elementary my dear Ayumi-chan. I'm a miko. I can sense youki on people and judging by the type of youki and the amount, I can determine how much youkai blood is in a person and what sort. I've encountered enough dragon youkai in my time to be able to tell one when I see them. There's not a lot of youki surrounding Ryu-kun's aura, but there's a tiny bit so I'd say he's about a fourth youkai."

"Wow," was the only thing that her friends could manage to utter before there was a knock on the door.

"Oi, nee-chan? Shippou-chan and I are going to bed," Souta informed her as he cracked the door open. The kitsune cub leapt into the room and straight into Kagome's arms, receiving a goodnight hug and kiss upon his forehead.

"G'night Souta," she called over her shoulder and then looked down at the cub in her arms. "You wanna sleep in here with me or are you going to be alright with Souta?"

"I'll be fine," he assured her then gave her friends a weary look as they ooh'd and aww'd over him.

"Okay then. G'night, Shippou, and if you have a bad dream or can't sleep, just come and get me, 'kay?" She ruffled the rusty colored hair on his head and sent him on his way.

"That is so sweet!"

"Isn't he just the cutest?"

"I bet he calls Inuyasha 'otou.'"

Kagome blushed deeply at the insinuation that she and Inuyasha were like that in their relationship. Obviously she'd like it to go to that level, but he hadn't made any moves on her to claim her thus far.

"Well, uh, like I was saying before…I'm not going to go to college. I'm going to work here at the shrine while I'm in this era and then I'm going to train to be the village miko after Kaede retires back in the Sengoku Jidai."

The girls giggled, nudging each other and giving her little winks. "Yeah, _we_ know why you want to stay in Sengoku Jidai."

"Oh my - Kami! Eri-chan!" Kagome grabbed her pillow and slapped at the dark haired girl with it while she put her hands up in defense. "My relationship with Inuyasha is nothing like that!"

"Not for lack of trying, ne?" Ayumi's utterance received her a blow with the pillow as well.

Still laughing, Eri and Yuka picked up their pillows, defending their friend against Kagome's attacks, which created a full blown pillow fight and ended with the girls falling back on the floor, gasping for breath and giggling.

"Come on, let's get comfy and watch a movie. I'm exhausted and I want to hear about your lives as much as you wanted to hear about me."

* * *

Two weeks she'd been back in her era only visiting Sengoku Jidai on the weekends. She was almost caught up in her classes and it was wonderful to be back into a regular routine. She liked being able to go back and forth to school as she wished and study her homework. Sure, she didn't plan on attending college after her high school was finished, but she still wanted to be able to graduate with at least half the high marks she'd had before.

"Mama! I'm home!" she called cheerfully and slipped her shoes off at the door, putting on her house slippers before she slid the side door closed. "Guess what! Ayumi was talking to Noriko - she's the daughter of the guy that Ayumi's dad works for - and Noriko said that she knew of an archery range that's only a few blocks from the school. It's small and they don't advertise much, but I thought it might be a good idea if I went at least once a week to keep in practice, you know? I might be able to get a part-time job there as an instructor or something."

She had walked into the family room looking for her mother since she heard the television going and found her mom standing at a side table with the feather duster poised in mid stroke, attention focused on the television. Inuyasha reclined on the couch, hands behind his head and his feet propped up on the coffee table also focused on the T.V.

"Eh…Mama?"

Keiko looked over at her daughter, surprised to see her there. "Oh, back from school already dear? How was your day?"

"I'll tell you about it later," she grumbled as she dropped on the couch next to Inuyasha and glanced at the television.

The show they had been so immersed in, she saw, was a soap opera. This made her giggle - the thought of her hanyou being so engrossed in something so silly when his own life held quite enough drama for three or four soap operas.

"Oh, Mama, I saw Souta after school and he's gone to the arcade with one of his friends. He said he'd be back before dark," she added.

Keiko nodded and went out of the room on some mission or another.

"Inuyasha, you do know that it's only two days till I go back through the well, don't you?" She gave him a grin.

"Yeah, so?" He didn't look at her. Her voice was sweet enough, but it was almost as if she didn't want him there. It wasn't like he was there to drag her back with him. He just missed her. Kami…when had he become so pathetically addicted to her presence? It was sickening. That's what his brother would say - not that he cared what that oversized ball of fluff thought. He just couldn't believe that he had gone from an independent hanyou to a clingy, lonely puppy over one human female. But she was the one constant in his life and he couldn't stand to lose her.

"Well, I have homework to do. My physics teacher has been threatening us with a surprise exam if our grades don't improve and he's going to throw it at us any day now."

She sighed and stood up, straightening the blue skirt of her school uniform. This one was slightly more modest and more to Inuyasha's liking than her junior high uniform because it kept every man in Japan from seeing her legs. It was only a few inches longer than the other, but those few inches made all the difference.

"Sometimes I would rather be youkai hunting," she muttered and slung the book bag over her shoulder before turning to look back at him. "Are you staying for dinner? You can keep me company if you're not too engrossed in Days of Our Lives."

"Actually," Keiko interrupted, breezing back into the room, "the door to the storage shed has broken again. I've bought the supplies, but you know Jii-chan is _not_ a handyman and I can't keep your brother in one place long enough to ask him. I was hoping you would maybe see if there was something you could do, Inuyasha?"

He shrugged and stood up. It'd kill time and give him an excuse to stay. "Sure, why not?"

"Wonderful! Kagome, I'll be outside showing Inuyasha where the materials and the building are if you need me."

* * *

Time was moving on. Her grades were improving and she was spending her weekends in the Sengoku Jidai as promised. They didn't have much to do. Once in a while there was a straggling youkai that would come near to try and steal the jewel, but it wasn't anything much. Mostly they spent their time talking and planning the house that Miroku was going to build for Sango.

Never in a million years would she have guessed what kind of curve ball the fates were about to throw at her….


	5. Chapter 5

**Scroll Five: Predictions **

She had been spending her weekends in the Sengoku Jidai for nearly two months now. Inuyasha had spent a lot of time at her family's shrine during the week and it seemed that the rift that had been forged between them after Kikyo's death was being mended and things had become almost normal. Shippou, of course, was not happy with the amount of time she was allowed on his side of the well, wanting his mother there all the time the way she had been before.

Sango and Miroku were planning a house. He wanted to build it on the other side of town and Inuyasha was supposed to help, as were the villagers. Sango and Kagome had been planning the inside - how large it would be, how many separate rooms and such as that. She'd promised to bring some modern amenities that would be useful for their new home. Then they were going to be married. Though customs between Kagome's era and the feudal era were considerably different and formal marriage ceremonies were mostly reserved for the noble class, Sango and Miroku had decided that they would have a ceremony. Kaede knew a priest from a neighboring village who would perform the rites whenever they were ready.

On this particular Sunday, Kagome and her friends were lounging outside of Kaede's hut, enjoying the cool breezes, and talking about future plans, when they saw a wagon and a small band of people coming their way down the path that led towards the village. They were quiet as the group approached, and gave each other curious looks when the wagon stopped and an old woman came up to them. She had long, gray hair that she wore in a braid. From what Kagome could tell, she looked foreign, though she obviously had some Japanese blood in her. Probably, she thought, the daughter or granddaughter of some straggling explorer. Come to think of it, all of her group looked foreign.

"Excuse me," for a foreigner, her Japanese was perfect. She was definitely a native of the Japanese islands, "but is there a village or something nearby where we could make camp?"

Sango looked from her friends to the elder woman. "There's a village just down this path, but there's no inn or anything. You can camp on the other side of the village, but I wouldn't suggest going through the forest at night. There's a lot of youkai around this area."

Kagome finally realized at that point what these people reminded her of. Gypsies.

The elder woman smiled and nodded. "Thank you, young lady. Perhaps we will camp just outside the forest if we cannot make it through before dark." She saw Kagome's curious looks and laughed. "Perhaps to return your favor, I could read your fortunes? That is what my family and I do, we dabble in fortune reading and performances."

"I don't think so, babaa," Inuyasha spoke from the tree he'd been lounging in.

"Inuyasha, it's just a bit of fun." Kagome stood up and looked into the branches, her arms crossed over her chest. "It can't hurt to see what she's got to say. It might be interesting."

He leapt from the tree to the ground, crouching in front of her and sat back on his butt, leaning against the trunk of the tree. "You all can get your futures told if you wanna, but leave me out of it."

The old woman looked at the hanyou, one brow raised in seeming disbelief. There was something about him that seemed to tug at her memory. And there was something about the girl that caught her interest.

"You, miko, I will read your future. Come with me," she waved her hand towards the men and women that were standing by their wagon. "Jasper, get my table and cards."

A young man about Kagome's age jumped into the back of the wagon and grabbed a table that had been lying on its side. This he set on the ground and then handed her a small, carved box that contained her tarot cards and a small wooden bowl. She took out the bowl and a small knife.

"I need a small lock of your hair."

Kagome fingered her strands and contemplated not allowing it, but finally leaned forward, pulling a handful from underneath, where it wouldn't be noticeable. The old woman cut a small bit from it and dropped the strands in the bowl, and then proceeded to pour liquids from small bottles that she produced from a pouch at her waist. The concoction bubbled and the woman made little noises in the back of her throat.

"You will face a great struggle unlike any other you have faced. There will be no enemy with which to fight, but it will be just as difficult as anything you have gone up against. Do not despair. You must remember that your destiny has already been written and you will return to those that love you."

Kagome looked at her, frowning. This woman couldn't possibly be talking about Naraku. He was dead and had been for quite some time. "I don't understand."

"You will soon enough." The woman dumped the bowls contents on the ground next to her and set it aside. "No more. I will read the hanyou next."

"I don't need my fortune told, babaa." He stood at the side, not liking what he heard the woman tell Kagome. "Read the bouzu or Sango if you wanna predict something."

"I will read you, hanyou."

Kagome stood up and touched his arm. "Inuyasha," she said quietly. "it's just a bit of fun. It's okay. I mean, it's probably not even true."

He looked down at her, glaring. "Feh, fine, whatever." He stood in front of the old woman who held out her hand and he grudgingly gave her his which she turned over and studied.

"You will encounter a foe that not even you will be able to defeat. You will be overpowered and you will lose everything that you have worked to gain. Everything and everyone you love the most will be taken from you by your own hand."

Inuyasha jerked his hand away from hers and closed it into a fist. "I think you'd better be on your way babaa," he growled, narrowing his golden gaze on her. "And don't come near us again." His fists were closed so tightly, he was beginning to draw blood from the palms of his hands.

"Inuyasha, I told you, it's probably not even real." They were watching the wagon disappear over the trail towards the village. He was still in a funk over what the old woman had told them. "She was just trying to bait you."

"Feh." He didn't want to tell her that he feared what the woman said was true.

* * *

Kagome giggled as Inuyasha tossed the khaki backpack over the edge of the well and then jumped out with her on his back. Her hand went for his head again and her fingers caressed his ear gently. In their current position he couldn't brush her hand away like he'd been trying to do.

"Admit it, you like it."

She usually wasn't like this with him because she knew his boundaries and his ears were one of them. But it had been the only way she could think of to distract him from the gypsy woman's predictions, and so far it had been working.

"Cut it out already! I'm not a fucking dog, Kagome." He growled slightly and tried to dislodge her from his back, but she held on tighter. "You expect me to carry you everywhere now? I thought you just needed someone to lift that bag."

Kagome giggled again, but refused to be moved. "I wanted a lift too?" Though it held the tone of a question, it was as close as she could get to an innocent statement with her giggles. "Oh, come on, Inuyasha! How often do I get chauffeured around by a koinu youkai?"

"Every damn day," he grumbled. "And I'm not a fucking puppy - I'm a hanyou. An inu hanyou. _Inu_ not _koinu_."

Despite his surliness, she still grinned. "Your ears twitch when you get mad. It's so kawaii!" Again her fingers found the soft, fuzzy flesh and stroked it lightly.

"Damn, bitch, stop that!" But she had stopped, he realized. She had ceased all movement, even breathing, and her body had tensed more than he would have thought possible. "Kagome?"

"Oh...no...Kami..."

There was a man some yards from them as they exited the well house. He was currently talking to her mother and her jii-chan. Souta stood behind their mother, seemingly hiding behind her skirt. She couldn't breath...that figure...that stance...that silhouette...she knew that outline like she knew the back of her hand. And when he turned towards her, she knew those blue eyes too. Managing one coherent thought she quickly put her hands over Inuyasha's ears, hiding them from the man's sight for the time being, remembering to be gentle but firm.

"Look wench - "

"No...no...no...no..."

"Kagome? What is it?" He was starting to get worried now. The scent of Kagome's fear was increasing with every second. What had frightened her so, he didn't see a threat...

"Papa..."

"Huh?"

Before he could ask the rest of his question or figure out just what the hell was going on, Higarashi Keiko spotted the two of them and forced a smile. "Kagome," her voice sounded strained, "will you do me a favor and take Souta inside to wash up? It seems Haruki will be staying for dinner."

She had no voice. Her vocal chords refused to work. The man before her was familiar, but she had been so young when he left, barely seven. She remembered him being taller and having broader shoulders, but she'd been smaller then. His light brown hair was sprinkled with gray and his face seemed more weathered, darker, older. He certainly had not aged as gracefully as her mother. He managed a pleasant smile, though the bright blue eyes told a different story, one of regret and surprise. "Why is that young man giving you a piggy back ride?"

His question broke through the clamp holding her voice back and, after several failed attempts, she managed to speak. "We were at the park. I fell and sprained my ankle. Inuyasha was kind enough to carry me home." She still had not moved her hands from his head.

_What right does he have to question me and what I do? He left us! Ten years and all we've had were Christmas cards, birthday cards and expensive gifts that he paid someone else to wrap. Not one phone call. Not one visit and then showing up here! Who does he think he is!_

Her anger was starting to take place of her fear and her shock.

"Inuyasha? Does he go to school with you?" Haruki's questions were only serving to anger her further.

"No, he doesn't go to school with me."

"Does he have a last name?"

"I'm right here you know." Inuyasha's sudden and irritated intervention caught them both off guard. "You could ask me."

"I apologize for my rudeness." The older man bowed to the hanyou. "I am Higarashi Haruki, Kagome's father."

"Taioushou Inuyasha." He used his father's name as a formal predecessor to his given name, not knowing what else to use, but did not return the bow. It would have been awkward with Kagome on his back and given the scents that were radiating from the aforementioned girl, he was quickly deciding he did not like this man.

"I'm Kagome's friend." He looked around Keiko and the old man, seeing Souta staring at the man with wide eyes, also wary. Just one more reason to not like this man. He was upsetting the half-daemon's family - yes, that's what Kagome's family had become to him.

A slight inkling of fear reached his nose, coming from the boy. Sorrow radiated from Kagome's okaa and anger was rolling in waves from the old jijii. Yet the human seemed oblivious to the discomfort his presence caused. "Come on brat. You're okaa said to go get cleaned up."

Souta gladly ran after the hanyou and his nee-chan as she was carried into the house, away from the stranger who claimed to be his father.

* * *

"That didn't go over very well, did it?" Haruki said with a slight sigh as he watched his children and the white haired boy disappear.

"What did you expect from them, Haruki?" Keiko demanded. "You walked out of their lives ten years ago, leaving them to deal with the fact that their father considered his job more important than them. You never called. You never took the time to come and visit or even invite them to visit with you. Did you really think that a few cards and nice presents were going to make up for everything they _didn't_ get?" She shook her head and held out her hand to keep him from responding. "You can stay for dinner Haruki, but don't even consider bringing _her_. If you want to introduce the children to her, you'll have to do so somewhere other than the shrine. I will not have them experiencing that in a place where they are supposed to be safe."

"Do you honestly think that Ikoku is going to hurt them?" Haruki raised his brow in a curious fashion. "She's my wife, not a monster."

"They won't see it that way, I can assure you." Keiko shook her head. "I have to go start dinner." And she left the father and son standing in the courtyard alone.

"Why have you returned here?" Oijii Higarashi demanded, his voice quiet yet angry. "I demand an explanation, Haruki."

Haruki looked at the cobblestone courtyard unable to meet his father's eyes. "I was transferred back to Tokyo. I married Ikoku. She wanted to meet my children." He looked up at the sky, still avoiding the hard black glare. "_I_ wanted to see my children."

* * *

Dinner that night went quietly with none of the usual chatter about school or the feudal era or even the shrine's business. Everyone seemed absorbed in their meals of oden, which wasn't even as enjoyable to Kagome as it usually was. Haruki attempted to start conversation several times but each one was cut off with one or two word answers.

"So, Kagome, how long have you and Inuyasha known each other?" He asked casually as if nothing were wrong.

"Two years."

"How did you meet?"

"He was asleep. I woke him up. Things just sort of fell in place after that." Her answers were short and clipped.

Haruki mentally winced. His father _was_ right. He did deserve this. "Are the two of you an item?"

Kagome's dark blue eyes were hard when she looked across the table at him. "Do you have a right to know?"

"Of course I do. I'm your father."

Her brow shot up, a surprised look on her features, but she radiated with barely controlled anger. In fact, between the old priest and Kagome, the anger scent was enough to make Inuyasha noxious.

"Oh, really?"

"Kagome -" Keiko put a hand on Kagome's arm, but was ignored.

"Hai, I am your father."

"And what gave you that idea? Besides the fact that your name happens to be on mine and Souta's birth certificates?" She put her chopsticks down and looked across at him. "Did you really think a few trips to the zoo when I was a kid would make up for the fact that you left us? That your liked your job more than us? That you ignored the fact that we needed you?"

Haruki's expression didn't change. He'd come to expect their anger in the last few hours. "Kagome, there are a lot of things we need to discuss, but I hardly think that this is the time or the place."

"If not now, when? How long do you plan to stick around this time?"

This time he smiled slightly. "A while, actually. Ikoku and I have an apartment here in Tokyo and the company is working on making this a long term settlement seeing as Ikoku is in a delicate condition at the moment."

Souta had been looking back and forth between his father and his sister, but curiosity got the best of him. "Who's Ikoku?"

Haruki's smile widened farther. "My wife."

Kagome paled several shades. "Mama, may I be excused?"

Keiko nodded. "Yes, you may."

She was up and out of the room so fast that the hanyou, who had been scarfing down his food through the entire outburst, dropped his own bowl and followed after her in concern. He found her in the upstairs bathroom, ridding herself of everything she'd just eaten. Giving her a little privacy, he waited in her room, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

When she came in, she went straight to the bed and drew herself up beside him. Inuyasha was not good at showing affection or giving comfort and she knew that and knew it made him uncomfortable, basically because he didn't know how. Normally he wouldn't be the one she would have sought, but today he was all she had.

With a sigh, she leaned sideways until she was lying on her side with her head on his thigh. Reaching back she grabbed his wrist and maneuvered his hand so that it lay on her head at her hairline and indicated she wanted him to stroke her hair. It was something her mother had done when she was still a child, grieving her father's departure. Kagome was silently showing him how to comfort her.

When his fingers began to run gently through her raven tresses, she sighed. "He really said that didn't he?"

"What?"

"That word - _wife_ - in regards to someone besides Mama."

Inuyasha sighed, becoming a little more relaxed. "Yeah...he did." Her eyes closed and he caught the whiff of salt. She was going to cry.

"And she's pregnant. I mean, he didn't say it of course, but I know she is. What else could he have meant by 'delicate condition'?"

More salt and then he felt the first drops of moisture fall on his hakama.

"I hate her."

"Kagome, you don't hate anyone. Not even the people that you should." _Like me._ His claws gently raked across her scalp has he ran his hands through her hair, lightly massaging the skin. This comfort thing wasn't so difficult. It was kind of nice, really, to be able to be this close with her, her raven strands running through his fingers and her gorgeous scent surrounding him, lulling him into an easy calm. The best thing was that it seemed to be working. She seemed to be relaxing.

"That's not true. I hated Naraku. And I hate this Ikoku."

* * *

"I don't like him." Haruki brought a few dishes from the table. Dinner had been cut short after Kagome's departure.

"Don't like who, Haruki?" Keiko asked sounding tired.

"That Inuyasha fellow." Haruki frowned. "Something about him rubs me the wrong way."

Keiko shut off the water and turned to look at her ex-husband. "You don't even know him. You don't know what he's done for your daughter. You don't really know anything, Haruki, so I don't really see how you think that you have the right to pass judgment on anyone in this family or anyone that this family is associated with."

She was usually a cheerfully oblivious person. Her disposition was naturally bright and sunny, but her ex-husband's sudden appearance after ten years had put her into a low, depressed mood.

"Inuyasha adores Kagome and he would never hurt her, nor would he ever allow anyone else to hurt her. He's protected her for two years and he's her best friend." She turned around and started the water running again, continuing her task of washing the dishes. "And I'm sure he knows more about your daughter than you do."

Haruki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as if to prevent a headache before it started. "I'm not going to get into this right now. Ikoku will be waiting for me. Look, she and I want the kids to come to our apartment for dinner and a visit on Sunday. Is that alright with you?"

"I'll ask the children if they would like to go and have ojii-san call you." She paused in her work, but didn't look at him. "Haruki, I think that it is good that you are back in Tokyo and are willing to _try_ and regain a relationship with our children, but I'm telling you right now to respect them. They don't know you. You have to give them a chance to open up to you and not force them."

* * *

Kagome's breathing had become slower and steadier until Inuyasha was certain that she had fallen asleep on his leg. With a resigned sigh, he knew he had to wake her so that she could go to bed and he could go out to the Goshinboku's branches. There was no way her mother would let him sleep in her room - on her bed, with Kagome lying on top of him. He gently shook her shoulder.

"Kagome? You gotta get up, Kagome."

Her eyes fluttered open, she hadn't even realized that she had fallen asleep. "I-Inuyasha? Sorry...I didn't mean..."

He almost chuckled. "Don't worry 'bout it. Just go get ready for bed. I'll be outside."

"You could sleep in Souta's room, you know." She stretched as she sat up and scooted towards the edge of the bed. "You don't have to sleep outside...Unless you're planning to sneak back down the well..." She frowned, a wave of apprehension washing over her. "You weren't were you, Inuyasha?" _Please...don't go...I can't deal with this alone. _

The hanyou shook his head and stood up. "I was gonna go back for a few minutes just to let the others know what's going on - that we might be a little longer than planned. I'll be back before you get out of the bath."

"But -"

He scowled. "I could stay for hours and you'd still be in the bathroom when I got back. You take the longest baths of anyone I've ever seen!"

The seventeen year old stuck her tongue out at him. "Because they're relaxing! I haven't exactly been able to indulge myself very often these past few years because of your search for the shards."

Golden eyes rolled and he shook his head. "What about the hot springs? You stay in there till you're all shriveled up like an old woman."

_That's because a certain silver haired someone is sitting in the tree above me and I don't want to get out with you watching._ "Ugh, just go."

Once out the window, Inuyasha grinned. The argument had been over something silly, as usual, but at least it was normal. At least she wasn't depressed over her Chichi-ue showing back up or asking him to pet her again. _This_ was the Kagome he could deal with.

Kagome sighed and grabbed her nightclothes off of the dresser and locked herself in the bathroom to drown her problems in a bubble bath and, sure enough, when she emerged and went to her bedroom to climb into bed, Inuyasha sat on the windowsill waiting for her.

"Don't say a word, Inuyasha," she warned when she saw the smug smirk on his face. She started pulling back the bed sheets and made a face at him. "Goodnight."

He smirked and leapt from the sill to the branches of the Goshinboku where he could watch over her during the night. She always kept her bedroom window cracked so he could get in and out, but tonight she kept it wide open - probably so she could hear or see if he tried to leave her.

_Like I'd do that,_ he thought a bit grudgingly. _She's terrified._ This was _his_ Kagome - she wasn't scared of anything! Why was some ningen man who happened to have been her father scaring her so badly?

* * *

Kagome rolled over, unable to get comfortable and sleep as she had when Inuyasha had been petting her hair. She kept dwelling on the one thought that rolled over and over again in her mind.

_If Dad stays, I'll either have to tell him about the well or not go back. How can I trust him with something like that? I don't even know him!_

She tossed again, grabbing an extra pillow to hug to her.

_But if I don't tell him, I'll have to stay in this era and never travel the well again. I can't do that either! I'd never see Inuyasha again..._

He had stayed because she asked him and because she needed him. He had comforted her...sure, she'd had to show him how, but he'd done it and hadn't argued! In two years she'd made so much progress with him that there was no way she could throw that away just because her father decided it was time to become part of his children's lives again.

_All that work would be for nothing...nothing but the memory of a few kisses._

She had kissed him when he had nearly given his soul to Kaguya, the moon maiden, to become full - impure - youkai. She hadn't been able to think of anything else that would distract him enough to break the concentration on the process of changing. After that he had avoided any overly romantic or sappy situations alone with her and had seemed almost afraid that it would happen again.

But then he seemed to change his mind and had stolen a kiss by the hot springs one night after Sango and Shippou had left her to go back to the camp and she had just finished gathering her things together. He'd come looking for her because she hadn't come back with the others and when he'd found her they had been talking...he mentioned something about his past and, though she remembered what he'd said even now, it was the feel of his lips against hers that she remembered the most.

Then again a few months later, after a battle with one of Naraku's incarnations, she had gotten injured and he had taken care of her. When she opened her eyes, the relief she saw in his face was touching, but she had only a second to ponder it before he kissed her. The other kisses had been because she initiated them.

Finally with something nice in her thoughts, Kagome was able to pull the covers up to her chin, snuggle down, and fall to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

****

Scroll Six: Shopping

"No."

Kagome, Souta, Jii-chan, and Inuyasha sat around the table eating breakfast. Both children were in their school uniforms checking the clock constantly to make sure that they would get to school on time, when Keiko had broached the subject of dinner at their father's apartment.

"No. Absolutely not. Mama, how could you even ask such a thing?"

Keiko sighed and touched her daughter's arm. "Kagome, darling, I know it's hard to understand the reasons behind your father leaving and his sudden reappearance - and I know you're angry that he came back without warning and then the way he announced to you all that he remarried and is expecting a baby, but Kagome, sometimes you just have to let go of everything you're feeling and understand that people do stupid things without thinking about the consequences. Your father is one of those people. At least give _her_ a chance." Though she did not like the thought of Haruki being married to another woman, she harbored no ill feelings towards the woman who carried his child nor did she wish ill on the child. It was simply unnerving to think of the man she had loved for so long, who had carried her away from her family and her life, given her two of the most wonderful children a person could ever hope for, was now giving that same life to another person.

"I don't _want_ to give her a chance." Kagome nearly knocked over her glass of orange juice as she waved her hand in exasperation. "I don't want anything to do with him _or_ her. I've got all the family I need." What had gotten into her mother? Did she forget that Haruki had abandoned them, had abandoned _her_? She couldn't forget; that was for sure. It still hurt to think about it, to remember the day he had told them he would be leaving. Souta had been no more than a baby, still unable to walk, but Kagome remembered.

"Papa, you promised! You promised to take me to the beach and you said we'd build sand castles. Please take me with you, papa. Please? I'll be a good girl, I promise!"

Souta put his chopsticks down and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, if Kagome's not going, neither am I." There was no way on earth he was spending time with two total strangers without his sister or _someone_ there to keep him safe.

Kagome put her utensils down and took the last drink of her juice. "Mama, I have other things to worry about. If she wants to meet the family, she'll have to find a different way to do it. I've got bigger problems - like how am I going to get down the well without him figuring it out? Am I going to have to tell him? How am I going to do that? He's gonna freak! He's probably going to forbid me - _not_ that I'd listen to him - to do it again. Kami, he'll probably tell the evening news that I can time travel or try to get me locked in an insane asylum."

"He wouldn't do that, I'm sure," Keiko reassured her.

Jii-chan cleared his throat. "However, Kagome does have a point, daughter. She can't very well just throw a time traveling well and a _hanyou_ boyfriend at Haruki his first week back in Tokyo."

Kagome's eyes got as wide as saucers as did Inuyasha's. She had explained the meaning of the word boyfriend a long time ago when she had used it in reference to Miroku and Sango. "He's not my boyfriend!"

Jii-chan chuckled. "You're going to be late for school, children."

The teen gave her grandfather her best 'I'll-deal-with-you-later' glare and stood up, grabbing her shoes from the cubby beside the door and walked out. Souta and Inuyasha followed.

Souta put his chopsticks down and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, if Kagome's not going, neither am I." There was no way on earth he was spending time with two total strangers without his sister or there to keep him safe.Kagome put her utensils down and took the last drink of her juice. "Mama, I have other things to worry about. If she wants to meet the family, she'll have to find a different way to do it. I've got bigger problems - like how am I going to get down the well without him figuring it out? Am I going to have to tell him? How am I going to do that? He's gonna freak! He's probably going to forbid me - that I'd listen to him - to do it again. Kami, he'll probably tell the evening news that I can time travel or try to get me locked in an insane asylum.""He wouldn't do that, I'm sure," Keiko reassured her.Jii-chan cleared his throat. "However, Kagome does have a point, daughter. She can't very well just throw a time traveling well and a boyfriend at Haruki his first week back in Tokyo."Kagome's eyes got as wide as saucers as did Inuyasha's. She had explained the meaning of the word boyfriend a long time ago when she had used it in reference to Miroku and Sango. "He's not my boyfriend!"Jii-chan chuckled. "You're going to be late for school, children."The teen gave her grandfather her best 'I'll-deal-with-you-later' glare and stood up, grabbing her shoes from the cubby beside the door and walked out. Souta and Inuyasha followed. 

"Inu-kun? Do you have to go back down the well?" she asked as Souta ran past her to meet a few friends at the bottom of the shrine steps. She and Inuyasha had stopped by the top steps.

"No, why?"

She scuffed the toe of her loafer on the ground, making an arc on the cobblestone. "I just feel like I have no one to talk to about this...no one who understands, you know? If you go back, then I'm gonna be alone and I really don't think I could handle that right now."

She blushed and looked away, towards the street below. "I just mean...well...Mama...she never stopped loving him, you know? And then to find out he's back and got a new wife and starting a new family...I couldn't bother her with my problems. And Souta doesn't even remember him, really, and he's got to be scared to death of the changes this will cause. Jii-chan...well, I don't think Jii-chan ever really forgave him for leaving like he did. I remember that for a long time afterwards whenever someone would mention Dad, he'd go into some rant about how he raised his sons to be more responsible than that, to treat their family with respect and honor their duties. I just want someone around who can support me, is all." She shrugged and started down the steps. "Never mind, Inuyasha...just forget I asked, okay? I'm feeling out of place right now."

"I told you last night I'd stay, baka," he huffed. What did she think he was? A liar? When had he ever broken a promise?

"Really?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

She smiled brightly, gratefully. "Hey, look, it might take a while to deal with this and figure out some way to avoid telling Dad about the well - a week or so, probably. After school today, would you let me take you shopping? I could get you some clothes like the guys in my time wear so that way you can walk around if you want to while I'm in school and you won't have to worry about people messing with you."

She knew the few times he had wandered Tokyo without her he had always managed to gather a crowd and he hated the way people reacted to his ears and his out-of-date clothing. He knew he attracted too much attention in her time and that it was not a good thing.

"Feh, whatever."

"Thanks, Inuyasha!" She waved and turned, running down the steps. "Ja ne!"

* * *

Ayumi, Eri and Yuka had greeted her with hugs and smiles and the latest gossip, but when the news that some new girl was fawning over Houjou didn't seem to get any sort of reaction out of her - glad or otherwise - they began to worry. And when the news that the school dance was only a week and a half away received only a small "cool" they _knew_ something was wrong.

"Okay, spill," Yuka demanded, poking her friend in the shoulder. "What'd Inuyasha do this time?"

All three suddenly became overly protective, waiting for Kagome to spill the beans.

The girl sighed and looked up at the high school building. It was still hard to believe she had passed the high school entrance exams...or that Inuyasha had helped her study. It hadn't come as that big a surprise that Miroku and Sango offered to help, but when the hanyou had descended from his tree branch and offered his assistance with her math - turns out he was a practical genius when it came to numbers and mathematical equations - it had nearly brought her to tears. Her tests and her school work were important to her and so it was important to them, Miroku had said when he had taken her history notes and begun scanning them.

It hadn't been until afterwards that she began to wonder about the repercussions of allowing her fifteenth century friends to read and learn about the up and coming five hundred and something years...and when she'd passed the exams, after congratulations were given, the same lecherous monk had voiced his disappointment with the fact that the high school uniforms were longer, and because of the knee length skirt being a bit of a hindrance, she had begun to wear civilian clothes to the Sengoku Jidai. That particular comment had earned him a nice knot from Sango and a black eye from Inuyasha. _Baka Miroku-sama...doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut._

Ayumi waved a hand in front of her face, bringing her out of her day dream.

"Huh?"

"We were asking you what happened with you and Inuyasha," Ayumi reminded her with an exaggerated sigh. "You're so bummed and we want to know why. Do we need to go hunt him down and teach him not to break your heart again?"

Kagome blushed deeply. "No, no...it doesn't have anything to do with Inuyasha. Actually, he's being uncharacteristically supportive...I'm sorry...I'm just a bit distracted is all. My father came back last night and announced that he moved back to Tokyo."

Eri and Yuka stared at her in disbelief, mouths hanging open while Ayumi's eyes got round. Kagome had been friends with Eri and Yuka back then, but Ayumi had been attending a different school and so she had not known Kagome when her father left even though she knew the story. The other two girls immediately caught control of themselves and started trying to console their friend while Ayumi gave her a sympathetic look and patted her arm. She too came from a divorced home with a step mom and a step dad as well as stepsiblings on both sides.

"That...that...oh, I can't even think of a good word for him," Eri seethed. "I hope your mother told him exactly where he could go."

"The nerve of some men!" Yuka had her hands on her hips. "To think he can come back after all this time. What a baka!"

"You don't have to see him or have anything to do with him if you don't want to, Kagome. Your mom wouldn't force you." Ayumi shook her head. After all the stories she'd heard about Higarashi Haruki, she'd never have expected him to return. Not after everything Kagome had said about him.

"Yeah, I know. Mama said I don't have to if I don't want to, but she acts like she wants me and Souta to get to know him. She acts like she's actually _glad_ he came back even though I know it's killing her." Kagome frowned clenching her fist by her side. "Can you believe he actually had the nerve to stay for supper last night? And to top it all off he announced that he's remarried and that his wife is in - and I quote - 'a delicate condition'. _Ugh_! Didn't he even care how that might make my mom feel?"

The first bell rang and the four girls reluctantly headed for their first class. "Then he tells Mama to tell me and Souta that Ikoku - that's the woman's name - wants us to come to dinner at his house this Sunday. He didn't say that _he_ wanted us to be there; he said that _Ikoku_ wanted to get to know us. Like he doesn't even care - which I'm sure he doesn't."

Ayumi linked her arm through Kagome's right arm and Eri took her left side. Yuka linked her arm through Eri's as they walked down the hall keeping Kagome between them. "So what did you say?"

"I told Mama that I wasn't going. I think if he wanted to know us kids so badly he would have made a little more effort over the past ten years." Kagome shook her head. "She's gonna make me go, I can just feel it. She actually argued with me when I refused."

"What's Higarashi-oijii-san have to say?" Eri wondered.

Kagome sighed. They had to let go and walk single file into the room, but gathered around Kagome's desk with a little time before the second bell.

"Jii-chan is so mad he can't think straight. He keeps muttering to himself about how irresponsible his youngest son ended up being and apologizing to Obaa-san for Otou being such a disappointment."

"Geez, Kagome." The gravity of the situation was starting to set in and Kagome slumped in her chair.

"I know." She sighed and leaned over with her forehead resting on the top of her desk. Wasn't her life complicated enough?

* * *

"What are you doing today?" Yuka asked as the girls walked out of the front doors of the high school on their way home. "You wanna grab a bite to eat at WacDonald's?"

"I'd love to, but I can't. Sorry, Yuka-chan." Kagome smiled apologetically. The girls had been a great help in lifting her spirits all day. They'd stopped pressing Houjou-kun on her nearly a year ago, much to her relief, but they had not given up setting her with a decent boyfriend. However, they had put their mission on hold since she had explained the entire situation to them weeks before. "I told Inuyasha I'd go clothes shopping with him - he has no modern clothes, you know." She grinned.

"Oooh, shopping!" Ayumi exclaimed, sounding wistful and excited. "I haven't been to the mall in ages it feels like!"

Eri giggled. "We went just last weekend!"

"Like I said, ages!"

Kagome laughed. "I'd invite you girls, you know that, but I don't think Inuyasha'd be too comfortable..."

"But if we just happened to show up at the mall -"

"And we just happened to run into you -"

"Then what could he say?" All three had stopped in their tracks at the edge of the school yard and were grinning wickedly.

Kagome sighed. She was outnumbered and definitely beaten. "He couldn't really say anything, I suppose…and I'm guessing there's nothing I can do to persuade you not to do it?"

They shook their heads and laughed. "See you at the mall, Kagome!"

"Ja ne!"

Kagome rolled her eyes and waved to them as they went in their own separate directions.

* * *

Having changed into khaki short-shorts and a navy blue tank top, Kagome accepted a wad of cash from her mother, who had agreed with the idea of buying some modern clothes for Inuyasha to wear when he was on their side of the well. She drug the teen hanyou down the street to Tokyo's shopping district. She had made sure he was wearing a baseball cap to cover his ears and had insisted that he wear a pair of her grandfather's sandals, as stores seldom allowed customers to enter barefoot. He had reluctantly agreed. This seemed to be making Kagome happy, after all, and if it kept her from crying then he'd do anything.

If he thought the streets of Tokyo were crowded, he had been sadly mistaken and realized it once they entered the automatic doors of the mall. His sensitive ears and nose were bombarded with various loud noises and strong odors and he almost passed out from the attack. Kagome kept a tight grip on his hand and led him through the maze of crowds and booths with ease. The food court was just to their right and a parade of tantalizing scents tempted him to detour in that direction.

But he wasn't given the chance. Three black haired girls in school uniforms pounced almost immediately.

"Kagome!"

"Kagome-chan!"

"Is that Inuyasha? He looks different!"

"He certainly is taller!"

"Don't you just love his hair, Eri?"

"Yeah! I wish mine were that pretty!"

The hanyou growled low in his throat. _My hair is not pretty!_ I'm _not pretty!_ Sesshomaru _is the pretty boy - not me!_ He looked to Kagome for rescue only to find that she was laughing as the girls stared at him with starry eyes as if waiting for some sort of response. "Oi...Who are you?"

Eri frowned slightly, looking hurt. "Oi, don't tell me you've forgotten us already? We're Kagome's friends from school. I'm Eri, this is Yuka, and that's Ayumi."

"Oh, yeah." He fidgeted nervously. What was it with girls in Kagome's era? They were always drooling over him. It was times like these he much preferred the way people reacted towards him in the Sengoku Jidai - with fear and distance. This attention and fawning was unnerving.

Kagome cleared her throat, deciding it was time for intervention. "Leave him alone, girls. It was hard enough getting him to come out here. He hates crowds." She tried to look serious, but her eyes sparkled with laughter and he scowled. "I promised we wouldn't be here long."

They all three looked disappointed. "Well...I suppose we'd better go do our homework, anyway. We'll see you at school tomorrow." Eri said, smiling at her. She missed spending time with her friend. The three said their goodbyes and drooled over Inuyasha a second longer before leaving them be.

"Sorry about that. They really wanted to see you and I couldn't argue..." Kagome bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. She didn't like making Inuyasha uncomfortable, of course, but the look of total confusion on his features whenever he was exposed to her friends was verging on hilarious. Of course, given time to adjust to their obvious infatuation with him, he became more comfortable and started answering their questions with ease, but the initial shock of adoration that was flung at him kept him on edge for the first few minutes. It was actually kind of sad, when Kagome stopped to think about it. It was only another testament to the fact that Inuyasha had not been given much positive attention in his life.

"Feh, whatever." He shrugged as she reached out and took his hand, leading him towards the throngs of people.

* * *

They'd been at it two hours and had only spent half of the money Keiko had given them even though both of Inuyasha's hands were filled with bags. Getting Inuyasha to agree to purchase _anything_ was a chore and a half. He thought all of the clothes were too tight or too revealing or too funny looking or too itchy or whatever else he could find wrong with them. Two pairs of baggy blue jeans, one pair of khakis and six button-up shirts later, they were almost ready to leave until she decided he needed a good pair of shoes. And so they were in the shoe store comparing styles and prices.

"You'd probably be more comfortable in open backs, I'm sure...Birkenstocks are a good brand and they're really comfortable. Souta's got a pair that he loves."

Kagome tapped her finger against her chin while Inuyasha looked at the racks of shoes like he thought they were going to fly off of the shelves and attack him. In all of his nineteen years he had never worn shoes, not even when he'd been a little pup in his mother's household and she was nobility!

Kagome grabbed a pair of dark tan clogs and bent them one way and then the other, checking for flexibility before flagging down a clerk and asking him to measure Inuyasha's foot for a pair of the uncomfortable looking things.

The hanyou had just dropped into a chair and was glaring evilly at the clerk who had taken a metal contraption and was trying to jam his foot into it when a male voice called out Kagome's name. Both teens looked up only to be confronted with an all too recently familiar face. Higarashi Haruki stood just across from them now and standing beside him was a woman in her early thirties. She was about Kagome's height with long auburn hair that she wore in a loose braid down her back, ending just at her waist. She wore a simple sun dress and sandals, but anyone could see the slight roundness to her tummy through the loose material.

"Kagome, I didn't expect to see you here. What are you two doing?" He managed a smile and put his arm around the woman's shoulders.

"Oh, Ruki-chan, what do you think they're doing at the mall with a bunch of shopping bags?" The woman rolled her eyes and smiled at Kagome. "Haruki can be so dense sometimes. So you're Kagome? You're picture doesn't do you justice! And you look so much older."

Kagome didn't smile. She sat on the chair arm of Inuyasha's chair and folded her hands neatly in her lap. "Probably because the last picture I sent was three years ago."

Haruki cleared his throat, not wanting to air their dirty laundry in the middle of a shoe store. "Kagome, this is my wife, Higarashi Ikoku. She's looking forward to seeing you and Souta on Sunday night for dinner."

The woman nodded vigorously. "Yes, very much so. You and your brother are both adorable from what I can see of the pictures. And so smart! You're mother sent Haruki a letter every year and detailed the major events of both your lives to keep him informed. He's shared them with me and I am amazed at how talented you both are. You must get that from your mother."

_Bet she didn't tell you everything..._ "We take after our mom a lot, thank you."

"You look so much like Haruki, Kagome, right down to the eyes. Of course, yours are darker, but still beautiful. I'll bet Souta-kun is the spitting image of your mother, ne?"

"Yeah, he got her looks."

"So, the two of you will be coming to dinner on Sunday? Is there anything special you prefer? Some favorite dinner or dessert that you would like to have?" Ikoku didn't seem to pick up on the tension between her husband and stepdaughter as she babbled on. "You know, Kagome, I want you and your brother to know that you are both welcome in our home and I want you to feel comfortable there."

Haruki coughed a bit. "Well, Ikoku, we should really get going. Your mother is expecting us for dinner, remember?" He gave Kagome a smile. "It was nice to see you again, Kagome...Inuyasha."

"Hai, it was very nice to meet you Kagome. And who is this?" She gave Inuyasha a curious glance as if noticing him for the first time.

"A friend of mine, Taishou Inuyasha." Kagome reused the family name from the night before as to not raise her father's suspicions.

"Then, it was very nice to meet you both. I hope to see you again soon. Sayonara."

"Sayonara."

Inuyasha watched them go and then glanced over at Kagome, who sat on the arm of his chair. "And I thought you talked a lot."

She shot him a glare and elbowed his arm. The clerk had used Inuyasha's distraction with Kagome and her father to fit his foot into the measuring device and was just returning with a box when the couple left. Kagome didn't give him the chance to argue, and simply instructed him to put the shoes on while she went to pay. When that was done, much to Inuyasha's relief, they headed back to the shrine with their purchases.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

_**To Begin Again  
**_**PrincessMelissa83**

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A/N: I love getting reviews from you guys and I always try to answer them all. Ask questions, make comments, cretique my writing, make suggestions - it doesn't matter to me. I'm always up for some constructive critasism. :) So, please read and review!

Reviewer Comments:

**Kitsune Kit **- Awww, that's sweet. Thanks!

**TennyoKameko** - The relationship between Kikyo and Inuyasha was important and it should be looked at that way. I mean, if there had been no Kikyo/Inuyasha there would be no Kagome/Inuyasha. It was Kikyo who opened the door that has allowed Kagome to change Inuyasha and heal his heart. It was because Kikyo showed him mercy and a tentative friendship that he has been able to become so close to Kagome. I don't think that Kikyo ever really loved Inuyasha in that romantic sense. I think that her desire to be with him came from a more selfish desire to be a normal girl without the weight of the jewel in her hands. That is not to say that she didn't care for him because I think that she really did and still does in a way. But don't take that to mean that I am an Inu/Kik supporter, because I'm not. Kikyo is, despite appearances, dead and should remain that way (actually dead not walking the earth, soulless). Her time on earth is long since gone. She's a part of the past and Inuyasha needs to step up and embrace his future - a future that starts with Kagome whether they are allowed to be together once the series is over or not.

* * *

**Scroll Seven: Dates Part I**

* * *

Kagome waved goodbye to her friends, While she was feeling rejuvenated, she still had a torrent of thoughts going through her head. She was still on edge over her father's sudden appearance and her family seemed to be avoiding the subject as much as possible in order to avoid the conflict that they knew was soon to erupt.

With a sigh, she walked slowly, trying to get her thoughts in order. Now, not only did she have to deal with her father and not being able to go back through the well, but she also had to think about that coming Saturday - the day of the dance. If things were still going as they had, which she had no doubt that they would, she would be unable to disappear through the well before then and therefore had no excuse not to attend. Not that she didn't want to go, because she did very badly. Up until that point she had not been able to because of her trips to the Sengoku Jidai.

And then there was Houjou, still persistent after all these years. The gifts had stopped, but not the attempted dates. She turned him down every single time, but he hadn't stopped trying. Inuyasha may have been part inu youkai, but it was Houjou-kun who followed her around like a lost puppy.

"Higarashi!" Kagome stopped as she heard someone calling her name from behind. _Speak of the devil._ "Higarashi, wait a moment, please." When she turned she saw Houjou hurrying towards her with a charming smile, practiced to perfection no doubt, beaming straight at her. She could hear the Yuka giggling behind her now, whispering, "Poor Houjou."

"Yes, Houjou-kun?" She smiled politely, giving the girl a hidden look, warning her to stay quiet. "What is it?"

He flashed her another charming smile, reminding her shortly of a certain ookami she knew. "Higarashi, you know there is going to be a school dance this weekend? I've heard it's supposed to be a lot of fun and I was wondering if you would care to go with me?"

Her face fell. It had been what she feared he'd do. She had known he would ask her, but she had been trying to avoid it, knowing she would be turning him down and she hated, just hated, to see that rejected and hurt look that he got every time she said no. "Houjou-kun, it's really sweet of you to ask..."

"Kagome," Yuka interrupted, for once coming to the rescue, "you can't go to the dance with Houjou-kun, remember?" When the young miko looked at her, the girl poked her in the shoulder. "Did you forget that you already told Inu-kun you'd go with him?"

Kagome looked at Yuka for a moment before nodding in understanding and agreement. "That's right. How could I have forgotten that?" She looked back at Houjou, an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm sorry, Houjou-kun, but Inuyasha already asked me and I can't back out on him."

He nodded and shrugged, a trace of that hurt she hated lingering in his eyes. "I understand, Higarashi. I was too late is all. Bye girls." He waved and walked back towards his bike.

Kagome groaned. She was thankful to Yuka for trying to get her out of the situation, she really was, but she just didn't like the way that Yuka had chosen to do it. Now Houjou and anyone he talked to would expect her to show up at the dance with Inuyasha as her date. And just how was she supposed to talk him into going to a school dance with her? He would never go for it - never in a million years.

What was she going to do? She couldn't just not go to the dance now that Yuka told Houjou that she was going to go with Inuyasha, but she couldn't exactly ask Inuyasha to go with her, mostly because he'd never even consider doing something like that with her. He hated crowds and he probably didn't know how to dance, so that would embarrass him and now that she was thinking about it, the music would probably be too loud for his ears... it was just a big mess that she had allowed herself to get into once more. Maybe she aught to have considered going with Houjou, but then, she wouldn't have felt right since Inuyasha was staying in her era just for her. She couldn't exactly leave him home alone, it would be rude and...well, she didn't want to go with Houjou. If she was going to go she would want to go with Inuyasha.

But he'd never go for it.

Never.

She trudged up the stairs to the temple, looking significantly defeated. Inuyasha, who had been sitting up in the branches of the Goshinboku tree looked down as she approached and landed gracefully at the base of the tree to greet her.

"What's with you? Fail one of those tests again?" He queried, giving her a wary look. Usually when Kagome was in one of these moods, it was safest to stay far away from her.

The dark haired miko looked up from her study of the cobblestone courtyard and narrowed her eyes at him. "No I did not fail another test. I haven't failed a test since I've started attending class everyday, thank you. I just have a lot of stuff on my mind is all."

This seemed to gain his interest and he tilted his head, flicking an ear in her direction in a way that made him look almost like an adorable curious puppy. "Like what? That stuff with your Chichi-ue again?"

She sighed. "Well, yeah, that too, but there's nothing I can do about that right now. I was just thinking about what the girls were saying at school. There's a dance coming up on Saturday and they were wanting me to go, but I wasn't planning on it. I mean, I don't have anything to wear and I don't have a date...well, I do sorta have a date...Or I would have if I hadn't turned him down..." His frown was deepening and Kagome decided it was time to shut her mouth. "Never mind."

"Oi, what do you mean you would have had a date?" He asked roughly. She'd explained the concept of dating to him too, when she had mentioned something about a Hobo or Hodou guy from her school. He didn't like the idea of his Kagome going on a date. It was much to similar to being claimed and she was already claimed...for the most part.

She shrugged. "Houjou asked me to the dance when I was leaving school today, but I told him no. Really, Inuyasha, with all that's going on with my dad and all, I really don't have the energy to think about a dance. But then Yuka had to go and open her big mouth and tell him that I couldn't go with him because I already had another date. I could kill her for that, you know."

This situation was getting worse by the second and Inuyasha was beginning to fidget and become agitated. This was not a good sign. "Another date with who?"

Sensing his unease, she sighed knowing that she couldn't bring up the subject of him taking her even though she knew he wouldn't want anyone else to either. With a deep sigh, she shook her head. "No one, Inuyasha, don't worry about it. It's just a lie to keep Houjou from persisting." She started to walk towards the house, but he grabbed her arm and held her in place.

"With who?" His demand came out through clenched teeth.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter because it was just a lie. But if you really have to know, it was you, okay? Yuka said you were taking me." She brought her other hand up to pry his fingers off of her arm, blushing deeply as she tried to keep her face hidden. "Not that it matters because I'm not going. It would be fun, but I can't bother with it right now. Besides, like I said, I don't have a date although I'm sure that Houjou-kun would still take me if I told him I changed my mind." She hadn't meant to do it, but it had seemed the perfect spur of the moment plan. She could threaten to go to the dance with another guy, in a manner that seemed as if she were trying to do Inuyasha a favor by not making him go and maybe he would demand that she take him.

He glared at her and tightened his grip on her arm, making sure that he didn't hold her tight enough to actually bruise her. He really didn't want to go to this dance thing, but he didn't want Kagome going without him…with some other guy. If she really wanted to go, she would go whether he took her or not, that much he knew. "You wanna go to this thing, don't you?" He asked gruffly. She lowered her gaze to the ground and finally nodded, slowly. He puffed out his cheeks, blowing out the air in a long, drawn out sigh. "Fine, we'll go, but we ain't staying all night."

Her head shot up and she looked at him in surprise, her eyes wide and a slight smile pulling at her lips. "Really?" She questioned, not daring to believe it. When he nodded she smiled broadly and threw her arms around his waist. "Thank you, Inuyasha. This is the first dance I've gone to. I'm glad you're going with me."

He blushed, but brought his arms up around her lightly, his heart skipping a beat knowing that he'd made her that happy.

* * *

It was the day before the dance and Kagome still hadn't been able to decide what she was going to wear. Everyone had already seen just about every outfit in her closet and the ones that hadn't been worn recently looked old and out of date because she hadn't worn them in so long. She'd been so preoccupied with school and family problems that she hadn't had the chance to go back to the shopping district and find anything and so she was out of luck.

"Kagome, could you come in here for a moment, please?" Keiko called from the living room. Kagome came in from the kitchen, looking confused. What had she done this time? Keiko laughed and held out a box to her, which Kagome took looking even more confused before she sat down to open it. When her eyes widened in surprise, Keiko smiled gently. "Do you like it?"

Kagome held up the white long sleeved cardigan to get a better look at it, although she already knew it was the exact one she'd been eying for months now. Folded in the box beneath a dark red a-line skirt. "Mama, you know I love it, but why?"

"This will be the first dance you've actually gotten to go to," her mother explained. "I wanted to do something special for you so I had the store put it on hold so that I could make sure you were actually going to go. I just picked it up today."

"Thank you, Mama, I love it. I absolutely love it!" Kagome squealed in delight and turned the top to look at it from the back before folding it up and lying back on top of the skirt in the box. "Now...what am I going to do about shoes?" She tapped her chin.

Keiko grinned and shoved another box at her. "I knew you wouldn't have much time to shop."

Kagome squealed again and dove into the box to find a pair of black strappy heels. "Kyaa! I love you, Mama!" She threw her arms around her mother and giggled, laughing harder when Inuyasha and Jii-chan walked in looking lost.

"I think we missed something," Inuyasha muttered.

"Indeed," the old man agreed, nodding his head slowly.

Kagome winked at her mom - she wanted to surprise Inuyasha when they got ready to go the next night. "Inu-kun?" She stopped on her way towards the stairs. "You _are_ going to take me tomorrow night, ne?" She bit her lip in anticipation. She had goaded him into it in the first place by hinting how she was sure Houjou-kun wouldn't mind taking her if he didn't - he had asked her after all. She'd been afraid he'd break his jaw the way he'd been grinding his teeth and she knew his palms had to have been bleeding from his nails being dug into the skin.

"Yeah, I'm going." Just remembering the prior day made his blood boil. How dare some boy try and take _his_ Kagome!

"Great! I'm gonna have to teach you to dance, okay? It's really simple - just a lot of swaying, really." She smiled. "Come on. I also have a ton of algebra homework and a test on Monday. You know, you're gonna regret letting me find out just how good you are at numbers."

He rolled his eyes and followed her. "I already am," he muttered as she led him up the stairs and to her room where she promptly shut the door and turned on her radio before turning to him with a thoughtful expression, trying to figure out the best way to teach her hanyou friend the way people in her time worked the dance floor.

"Put your hands on my waist," Kagome instructed finally. When Inuyasha just stood there, brow slightly cocked, she sighed. "You have to put your hands on my waist to dance - why are you blushing?" The corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she tried to fight the urge to giggle. "You carry me on your back all the time. I've slept in a tree with you and you had your arms around me. What's so difficult about dancing?"

"That was different - I was keeping you from falling out of the tree and only because Miroku and Sango had gone back to her village to fix Hiraikotsu. _And_," he added stressing the word, "Shippou was there."

He had put his hands out in front of him in protest and she took the opportunity to grab his wrists and place his hands on her hips. "If you don't dance with me, I'll have to find another partner." She removed her hands and put them on his shoulders. A soft melody played in the background and she started to move, but Inuyasha stood stiff as a board. "Now what is it?"

"It's so...intimate..." He was turning red.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "We've kissed. We've slept together (a/n: not like that you hentais!). We've taken care of each other. You're my best friend, Inuyasha. Kami, you've even seen me naked more times than I can count! And _this_ is too intimate?"

He almost chuckled. She _did_ have a point and it wasn't like he didn't enjoy holding her like that, so he put his hands on her hips once more as she had instructed and allowed her to wrap her arms around his shoulders. "Is this right?" His face was still slightly red.

Kagome shivered slightly from the contact. There were so many times that she wished he would hold her in such a close manner and really mean it. Her heart belonged to him. It always had and it always would and deep within her she knew that some part of him felt the same way about her, but he had obligations, prior commitments, feelings for someone else. She lowered her eyes, studying the carpet beneath their feet, trying to mask the sudden depression that washed over her. "Yeah, you've got it," she answered, her voice sounding thick. Clearing her throat she pressed on with the lesson. "Now, just follow my movements. Tomorrow night you'll have to be the one leading me." With that she started to move slowly, swaying slightly to and fro as they moved across the carpeted floor with the music. She sighed when he started to get the hang of it and let him take the lead while she lay her head against his shoulder, listening to the soothing sound of his heart beating.

_What?_ He looked down at the top of her head when he felt her move and lean against him and then smiled to himself. Maybe this dance wouldn't be so bad after all if it let him get this close to Kagome. Let that Hobo guy try and take her away from him, he'd show that wimpy little human just where he stood in comparison to an inu hanyou. His hands tightened around her slim waist and held her closer inhaling her intoxicating scent.

"Inuyasha?" Her voice sounded drowsy and she really did not wish to move from where she was at that moment.

"Hmm?" His chin rested on top of her head and he seemed just as out of it as she was.

"The music's stopped," she pointed out, making no move to disentangle herself from his arms and he did not try to push her away although they had stopped moving and the music was no longer playing, announcers were instead trying to sell some product or another. Her grip tightened on him as well and she slowly raised her head to look up at him, wondering why he was allowing her to hold him that way. His head was bent, inclined towards hers, his eyes half shut. She was only vaguely aware of what they were doing, her mind seemingly shut down with the close proximity of their bodies. Her eyes drifted shut and her lips parted slightly as she stood on her tip toes to better reach him.

_Inuyasha_…

"Kagome! Oi, Kagome!" Souta called from out in the landing and then, without bothering to knock, barged into her room leaving the two teens to push away from each other in a hurried action that almost had Kagome falling over the foot of her bed. "Mama says that she needs you to go to the grocery store."

The dark haired miko closed her eyes, her back turned to her little brother to hide the ferocious blush that reddened her face. "Tell her I'll be right down." She sighed as the door closed behind him and she heard Inuyasha shifting around. "I guess I'd better get going. Do you want to go?"

The hanyou was already moving towards the window, preparing to leap into the branches of the Goshinboku for a few quiet moments during which to calm down. He'd been so close to kissing her the way that he had always wanted to and to make matters _better_ she seemed to want to kiss him back! "Nah."

She watched as he disappeared through the window into the leaves of the Goshinboku and mentally vowed to extract proper punishment from her brother. Inuyasha had almost kissed her and then he had come and messed it up. She could kill Souta for that. _I love it when he kisses me and he does it so rarely._

* * *

She didn't see Inuyasha again until the next day when she woke to him standing over her bed looking down at her. "You gonna sleep all day or what?" She groaned at his gruff question and attempted to pull the covers over her head and roll over only to find his hand on the covers to keep them from going up any farther.

"Inuyasha, it's Saturday. I'm supposed to sleep late on Saturday," she muttered. "I was hoping you would too."

He rolled his eyes and tugged the covers again managing to get them out of her grip and throw them off of her. While pink satin pajama pants covered her legs from the sudden gust of cool air, the matching pink tank top did little to protect her arms and she curled into a ball, trying to soothe the chill bumps that had arisen. "Keh, as if. I've been up for a while now, waiting on you. I even went back down the well to check on the others."

She opened her eyes, casting him a sour glare. "You didn't tell me you were going," she accused, pouting. "I might like to have gone for a short trip."

He shrugged. "You weren't up, were you?" She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. "Get dressed and we'll go, if you want. I thought you couldn't travel the well, though with your Chichi-ue being here and all."

Kagome sat up and stretched, yawning. "I don't think an hour or so would hurt anything. If he calls or comes by, Mama can always tell him I went out with the girls or something." Standing up she started making her bed, smoothing the sheet and comforter out. "But I'm going to have to think of something else soon. I know you don't like my era and it's not fair of me to keep asking you to stay."

She moved past him to grab some clothes and go to the bathroom to change, but he grabbed her arm, holding her so she couldn't leave. "Baka, I'd have stayed even if you hadn't asked me to. Now hurry up and get dressed, wench. We still gotta go to that dance thing you know."

* * *

A/N: I had originally intended on making this chapter a little longer by going into their visit through the well then ending it with the dance, but their visit back to the Sengoku Jidai took an…interesting…turn that ended up making this chapter _way_ to long so I had to break it up into two parts.

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	8. Chapter 8

**To Begin Again**

**PrincessMelissa83**

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**Scroll Eight: Dates Part II**

* * *

They were already halfway to Kaede's hut when Kagome was tackled by a russet haired kitsune. She giggled as he buried his head in her hair, hugging her around the neck as best as he could with his short arms. "Kagome! Kagome! I thought you weren't coming back," he wailed piteously. "Inuyasha said your chichi-ue showed up and that you couldn't come back to us anymore."

Inuyasha gave him a warning growl for twisting his words around, knowing Kagome would likely get angry if she thought that was what he had really told them. "That ain't what I said kid. I said I didn't know when she'd be able to get back."

Kagome hugged the kit tightly and kissed his brow. She was the closest thing that he'd had to a mother in a long time and she felt responsible for him. She cared about him just as much as she would have if he had been hers. She had, after all, raised him for the past three years. "I know Shippou and I'm sorry, but with my father being around I can't go back and forth the way I used to. As it is I can only stay for an hour or so."

Two figures were approaching them and Kagome smiled when she recognized Miroku and Sango. "Ohiyo!" Sango and Kagome embraced and Miroku patted her arm. "I missed you guys so much! I hate not being able to come back here when I want to. I hate this whole situation."

Inuyasha was feeling as if he'd been pushed to the side with the arrival of their friends and it was a feeling he knew he shouldn't be having. Kagome had found a sister in Sango. He knew that and he knew the kitsune had adopted her. Even the monk had a special place in her heart. It was obvious they had all missed each other, but he had had Kagome to himself for nearly a week and he had become spoiled. Now, as she paid close attention to the other three, he felt left out and ignored, old insecurities coming back.

Kagome had the kit tucked in one arm and linked her other arm through Sango's as the taijiya led her back towards Kaede's hut leaving the hanyou and the Houshi to follow behind them. As they walked Kagome told them the details of her father's disappearance as a child and then his sudden homecoming the week before with a new wife and child on the way. She ranted shortly about the dinner that her mother had convinced her to attend the following night. She didn't, however, mention the dance they were attending that night because she knew that it would have made Inuyasha uncomfortable when Miroku and Shippou started poking fun at him.

They had just gotten to the hut when Inuyasha growled and cursed under his breath, his hand going to the Tetsuseiga. While Kagome was getting ready earlier he had changed into the fire-rat hair haori and hakama and tied the sword at his waist for their trip back. She did still have the jewel and he wasn't going to go back to the feudal era without being able to protect her. Now he scowled and pulled her beside him.

Kouga came up in a whirlwind of dust, his speed nearly undaunted by the disappearance of his Shikon shards. Hakkaku and Ginta still had trouble keeping up with him and he was fast enough to rival even Sesshomaru. When he came to a stop, he stood directly in front of Kagome. She gasped, not having expected to see him there. There had been no warning. "Good morning, Kouga-kun," she greeted once she got over her initial surprise.

Inuyasha growled deep in his throat. For the mangy ookami to have shown up so quickly after his arrival, he must have been waiting for her return. Suddenly he was regretting his decision to stay in Kagome's era for the last few days. If he'd been here he could have sniffed the wolf out and run him off before he brought Kagome back.

Kagome sighed. She had hoped for a peaceful visit with her friends, but she should have known something was going to happen to ruin it. "Kouga-kun, I'll be right back. Let me put my stuff up." Taking the backpack filled with candy for Shippou and a few trinkets for Sango and Miroku, she gripped Inuyasha's sleeve and tugged him behind her into the hut where she deposited the backpack. "Inuyasha, please don't start another fight. Please? This may be the last visit for awhile and I'd really like it to be as uneventful as possible." She looked at him with large blue eyes, pleading with him to not be so protective this time.

"Feh," he grumled under his breath and followed her back out to the questioning faces of their friends.

"So, Kouga-kun, how have you been?" She asked smiling sweetly. "Thank you for your help with Naraku, by the way - and for not putting up an argument when I needed your shards."

"Bastard had it coming to him. It was on his orders that that Kagura bitch killed my pack." He spit out his words with uncontained anger. If he could, he'd kill Naraku all over again and without the dog turd's help. "As for the shards, how could I deny my woman anything?"

She couldn't help the natural blush that rose to her cheeks when he called her his woman even though he wasn't the one she wanted to hear say it. His claim on her was without merit as far as she was concerned because he had not asked her but had simply just assumed it was what she wanted. He couldn't believe that she was happy with the hanyou.

"She ain't your fucking woman!" Inuyasha growled from behind her, his hand going for Tetsuseiga's hilt.

Kagome knew what was coming next and did not want to have to go into it. Instead she put a hand on his arm to stay his actions and turned to where Miroku and Sango stood just outside Kaede's door. "Can I borrow Kirara for a few minutes?" She asked her friend. They had no idea what she was planning, but Sango looked at the neko youkai who was on her shoulder. The feline blinked and jumped to the ground, strutting over to where Kagome stood, looking at her expectantly. "Kouga-kun and I are going for a walk. Shippou, you're coming with us." The kitsune kit nodded and jumped from the ground to her shoulder. He had disentangled himself from her arms when they first arrived at the hut ready to get into her backpack.

"What the hell? Kagome, you're not actually going with that mangy wolf are you?" Inuyasha questioned angrily, but she ignored him shooting him a 'trust me' look.

They walked down the path Inuyasha and she had just come from, towards the well. He reached for her hand and just barely brushed the skin when she jerked it away, covering up the movement by rubbing an imaginary itch on her arm and then reaching up to brush her hair from her face. To keep any other such situations from arising she stuffed her hands in her pockets. It wasn't that she didn't like Kouga, she just didn't want to lead him into believing there was more to their relationship than there really was. She'd ignored it for three years and now was the time to set things straight and make it clear to him once and for all that while his sentiment was sweet and well appreciated, a marriage between them would never work.

* * *

The ookami and the miko walked away from them, towards the well for a private conversation and it was all the hanyou could do to keep from going after them and slicing the mangy youkai to bits. As soon as they were out of earshot, he turned, heading in the opposite direction, stalking off.

"Inuyasha, where are you going?" Sango called, starting to worry about the situation at hand. Why was he leaving? Didn't he understand what Kagome was doing? She did once she thought about it. Then again, she had been privy to Kagome's secrets and knew the girl's heart belonged to the hanyou - that it always had. This was something, however, that had never been mentioned to the said half youkai.

"I'm going for a walk," he called, not turning around. "I'll be back later." Later, after he'd had time to cool down. He headed for the river, deciding the tranquil sounds of the running water might soothe his anger and his shattered heart.

Only, it didn't help. It just reminded him of her laughter and how much he loved to see her smile. With a deep throated growl, he leapt into the branches of a tree over hanging the water and settled in for a nice long sulk. How could she do this to him? She knew how much he despised that wolf. Didn't she care about his feelings at all? _Stupid bitch. I get yelled at and I'm supposed to feel guilty whenever I do something that hurts her, but then she goes off with that bastard. And he's so damn cocky about it too, throwing it in my face how she's _his_ woman. It's obvious she likes it or she'd have made him stop a long time ago. Ungrateful, inconsiderate wench. _

So maybe he'd never really told her how he felt about her, but it'd been obvious in his actions...or so he thought. He'd shared things with her he hadn't shared with anyone else. She knew his fears and his weaknesses and about his past. Well, some of it. And she had accepted him for who he was, despite what he was. At least he thought she had. _Guess I was wrong. Who'd want a hanyou when they can have a pure youkai anyway? Guess I shouldn't be surprised. It ain't like this is the first time. No one wants a half breed._

Why though? Why would she have pretended to care about him like that? She'd cried for him and she'd healed him and promised to stay with him. Why would she do that if she was just gonna leave him for that...that...wolf? It just didn't seem like something that Kagome - _his_ Kagome - would do. A tiny flicker of hope lit in his heart. Perhaps she wasn't...

No.

He would not start believing that she was going to choose to stay with him instead of leaving with the wolf. He would not start hoping that she did, perhaps, have feelings for him...maybe she did love him. Still, it was getting harder to stay mad at her. The scowl he'd been wearing disappeared and was replaced with a look of utter sadness, the likes of which would have broken the strongest of hearts. He leaned his head against the tree and sighed, looking up through the leaves at the early morning sky. Why did he even care?

Because he loved her.

Yes, he loved her more than he'd loved anyone else. When she was there, he was just Inuyasha, a teenaged boy…normal. There were no worries about the names that were thrown behind his back by the villagers they had passed along in their travels. When he was near her, he didn't feel dirty or filthy or unwanted. His life, his feelings, his words mattered to her. His human nights, the nights when no moon appeared in the sky, were the worst nights of his life. He'd always felt exposed and vulnerable, forcing himself to stay awake and keep on guard because anyone could have snuck up on him at those times and killed him right there. She had relaxed him. Her presence made him feel secure and because of her he had learned that he was not completely useless during these times. He could still hold his own in his human form. But only because of her. If it had not been his concern for her safety and his need to stay alive long enough to protect her when they were in the Ninmeka temple, he probably wouldn't have made it. He'd even been able to kill Bankotsu as a human. He'd nearly died himself from it, but he had killed him. He survived because he knew if he didn't, she might get hurt or worse...She'd cry.

Kami, he hated it when she cried. Especially when she cried _for_ him. It made him feel guilty because he hadn't been strong enough or fast enough or skilled enough to avoid being injured. And he hated to feel guilty. _I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, huh? Bet he won't ever make her cry. _He snarled at the thought. _He'd better damn well not make her cry or I'll kick his fucking good for nothing ass. Kami-sama, Kagome..._

_Why?_

* * *

_Why is he staring at me like that? Is he..._ Her eyes widened when Kouga put a hand around her bicep and leaned in closer to her, his own eyes closing. _Gah! He is! Help!_ She tried to lean back away from him, but he kept coming closer and she was trying to find a way out as quickly as possible.

Shippou yelped from behind her and she whirled finally escaping his grip and, thankfully, his kiss as she went to see what was wrong with the kitsune. Still, she couldn't miss the evil glare the wolf prince was giving her kit. It was the same glare that Inuyasha usually gave him when he got ready to pummel the child. _Inuyasha...I hope he didn't take this the wrong way...maybe he understood..._

She knelt down, giving Shippou a curious look. He was going into dramatics, tears pooling in his eyes and then spilling over while he sat on his bottom, wailing. "K-Kagome! It hurts! I stepped on something sharp and its stuck in my foot," he whined.

She carefully picked up the foot he held out and examined the pad of his paw, not seeing a thing. She furrowed her brow and looked at his now tear stained face. "Was that a distraction?" She mouthed, keeping her back to Kouga. Louder she said, "Does it hurt here?"

"Yeah," he whimpered, but she couldn't help but notice that his grimace was beginning to resemble a grin.

"Then I'll have to carry you till we get back and I can take a better look at it." She picked him up, cradling him in her arms. When she leaned down to place a kiss on top of his head she whispered, "Thank you." She turned back to the agitated wolf and sighed. He was not going to take this well and he certainly wasn't going to make it easy, but it was well past time that she dealt with it. When he'd first started pushing his claim on her three years before she had taken it in stride, mostly ignoring it and any implications that it made. By the time a year had gone by it had begun to become annoying - as had the fights that broke out every time he came near Inuyasha. She had been able to overlook and forgive the insults he threw at her hanyou because she considered him a friend, but after so many months of forgiving over and over and over again there comes a point where one just cannot forgive anymore. That line had been crossed and left in the dust.

And it was more than annoying the way he acted as if she had no say in the matter - expecting her to come with him willingly without being able to voice her opinion. Oh, sure, she'd tried when he first started. She'd _told_ him she was with Inuyasha and she'd _told_ him she was not his woman. He'd simply decided he'd have to kill Inuyasha then so that she _could _be his woman. He never so much as gave a thought to the idea that maybe she wasn't anyone's woman and didn't _want_ to be anyone's woman, just assumed she was gonna be his or Inuyasha's.

Kouga was approaching her again, trying to put a arm around her and she swiftly and deftly dodged his advance. "Kouga-kun we need to talk. Actually I need to talk and you need to listen." She waved a hand towards the well. "Your gonna want to sit down." He gave her a funny look and took a seat on the lip of the well, his legs stretched out in front of him. Kirara looked from the girl to the ookami and, seeming to make a decision, sat between them with her two tails curled around her legs while her large red eyes watched him carefully. Tiny as she was at the moment, she was ready to spring into action at the drop of a hat.

Kagome took a deep breath her arms tightening around Shippou as she thought of all the not-so-good reactions he could have to what she was about to say. _Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it. _

"Kouga-kun I'm not leaving with you," she blurted out in a rushed manner. _So much for calm and collected. _The smile he'd been wearing dropped and his shoulders seemed to slump a little. Before he could say anything she hurried to continue trying to ignore his obvious hurt at her lack of tact. "Kouga-kun I know your intentions were good and I think you might even have convinced yourself that you love me, but you don't...not really -"

He was up and coming towards her in a second. "But I _do_, Kagome, you have to believe me." His movements were halted by a hissing Kirara who stood baring her fangs at him, the hair along her spine standing up. While everyone doubted he'd ever hurt Kagome, no one was about to let him force her to do something she obviously didn't want to do. Not even Kirara.

"No, Kouga, you don't. You only think you do. How _could_ you love me? You don't even know me. What if you got me and found out I wasn't the girl you thought I was. What if you realized that I was so completely different from this vision you painted of me and you realized you were wrong, that you don't love me and you're not happy. You'd be absolutely miserable and then where would we be? We'd be stuck." She paced as she spoke, trying to convey to him the feelings behind her words so he would understand she really was serious about not wanting to be his girl and not just getting nervous.

"This is that mutt's fault, isn't it! He did this! He made you start thinking this stuff, didn't he?" Kagome jumped at his angered exclamation as he balled one hand into a fist and hit it against the other. "I should've known he'd do something like that. Fucking coward doesn't he have enough sense to leave other men's women alone?" He tried to side step Kirara but she growled and lunged for him, making him take a step back despite her being in her small form. "Kagome, you're my woman, of course I love you. You won't be making me miserable. I promise."

"What about _me_?" Kagome demanded, her anger rising as he continued to persist. "What if _I_ wouldn't be happy? Doesn't it matter to you if _I'm _happy?" The kitsune scrambled onto her shoulders as she pointed an accusing finger at Kouga. "Inuyasha has nothing to do with what I decide. He hasn't said a thing about me going with you. He hasn't asked me or told me not to and he hasn't encouraged me to go. He hasn't even mentioned it once, so don't you go trying to bring him into this. At least I _know_ Inuyasha cares about me!" She was going into a full blown temper tantrum and she knew it, but she couldn't help it. Enough was enough.

_She's scary when she's like this. I'm glad it's never directed at me_, Shippou thought as he watched the interaction between his 'okaa' and the wolf prince. He had to give the other youkai credit though. Not even Inuyasha was prepared to argue with her when she got like that. Of course, Inuyasha had learned the consequences a long time ago and this was the first chance that Kagome had gotten to show her not-so-sweet side to Kouga.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kouga demanded, fuming now. "That filthy, good for nothing, half breed better not have laid a hand on you, Kagome."

"It's really none of your business if he has or not." She crossed her arms, putting her nose in the air as she turned away from him. "And that's another thing - do you really want some 'filthy, good for nothing half breed' pups to have to take care of? 'Cause that's what you're gonna get if you settle down with me. In case you have forgotten, I am _human_." He had to pause as he tried to think of a retort and she looked back at him letting an unnerving calm settle over her. "Now I would appreciate if you would stop calling him all those horrible names. He shouldn't have to be ashamed because of who his parents chose to love. People like you are the reason he is the way he is. Think about it Kouga. You, an ookami youkai, are professing your undying love to me, a human miko. If I _were_ to accept being your mate our children would be hanyou. How would you feel if someone started calling them the same ugly names you call Inuyasha? Or would you leave them to die because of what they were?"

He opened his mouth about to say something and then closed it again without having come up with a response. He tried to form a comprehendible thought, but he'd never actually considered the possibilities before. Finding Naraku, getting revenge for his pack, taking Kagome as his mate, finding a good use for the Shikon no Tama - all of those things had been the forerunning thoughts in his mind and he'd never actually given thought to the every day life he and his mate would have or what their children would be. His mouth worked a few more times, but still no sound escaped his throat.

Kagome nodded once and looked him dead in the eyes. "I would never allow _anyone_ to harm my child and I could _never_ be with _anyone_ who could."

He blinked, finally finding his voice again. "I'm not that dishonorable Kagome, but you do have a point. If I ever heard anyone bad mouthing my cubs, I'd kill 'em. I've never really given it any thought - about our cubs - you know. It wouldn't matter to me if they were hanyou or not - I'd still like to have you as my mate."

She shook her head. "I won't do that to you. You deserve to have someone who loves you and who can make you happy. I can't do that. You're my friend, Kouga, and you always will be, but I won't be your mate."

He sighed, finally defeated. "So, you chose Inuko...er...Inuyasha over me. He took my woman..."

He'd hit a sore spot, Shippou realized when he felt her ire rise once more.

"Despite what you and Inuyasha may believe," Kagome clipped out, "you are not the only two men vying for my attention. I have a life on the other side of that well, you know. And there are several guys who have expressed interest in me. I could just as easily choose one of them." His eyes widened when he realized he'd made a mistake. He put his hand out to touch her arm, but she jerked away. "Leave me alone you egotistical jerk!" She started to turn away when he grabbed at her arm again.

"Kagome -"

"Idiot!" She sidestepped him and Shippou, tired of Kouga bugging Kagome and taking up her time with them, did what he had to do.

Drawing a pebble out of his pocket and tossing it with expert aim at the ookami, Shippou couldn't resist a grin when Kouga automatically grabbed at it. "Kitsune bi!" As soon as the pebble connected with his palm, the magic took affect and it grew ten times it's original size affectively weighing his hand so that it was smashed between the rock and the grass.

Kagome had turned tail and was walking back to towards the village with Kirara following close behind. "If you'd stop being such a stuipid self-centered jerk, Kouga-kun, you might have better luck with women!" She called out behind her.

* * *

A/N: I've always wanted Shippou to do that to Kouga...like he did when Inuyasha and Kagome first met him? I think that stupd wolf deserves it.

* * *

When they arrived back at the hut where Sango, Miroku and the two wolves waited, Shippou jumped to the ground and bound over to them. "You two might want to come with me. I don't think Kouga's gonna be in a very good mood." They glanced at each other and then at Kagome who wore a 'don't ask' look and followed the kit back towards the well.

"What happened, Kagome-chan?" Sango questioned standing and crossing towards her.

Kagome sighed, relieved it was over. "Thank Kami I had Kirara and Shippou there," she commented. "He actually tried to kiss me. If Shippou hadn't faked stepping on some thorn or something, he might have succeeded. And then when I told him that I was sorry if I'd misled him but that I wouldn't be going with him and he needed to stop calling me his woman he started going off on me about how I let Inuyasha brainwash me or something."

Miroku's brow rose in curiosity. "So the two of you argued?"

"Hai. I snapped at him for calling Inuyasha names and then I think he finally got the message. Then he had to go and make some stupid comment about me choosing Inuyasha over him and Inuyasha stealing his woman. I was already mad, but I guess that just put me over the top." She shook her head. "Like he and Inuyasha are the only two men in the world and I _have_ to choose between them." She started to grin and then began to giggle. "So Shippou usde his kitsune magic on him. Right now his hand is stuck under an unmovable rock."

Sango giggled and Miroku chuckled under his breath. "No wonder Shippou was in a hurry to get back to the well. _That_ is not going to go over well with Kouga," the taijiya remarked.

"Probably not." Kagome looked around frowning when she missed the one person she wanted to see. "Where's Inuyasha?"

"He stalked off right after you left with Kouga." Miroku pointed to the path that led to the river. "He should be hiding out there somewhere. I must say, you really managed to upset him this time, Kagome-sama."

Kagome sighed. And she'd thought the hard part was over...

* * *

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called tramping through the trees towards the river. She kept her eyes on the branches above her for any flashes of red. When he wanted to hide that's where he usually went. She was also sending out her own miko energy trying to locate his aura, but was coming up short so far.

However, keeping her eyes above her left her traveling an unknown path through the woods and she did not see the half buried tree root that was smack dab in the middle of her path. The toe of her tennis shoe connected with it and before she could regain her balance, she was tipping towards the earth. "Ah!" She squealed and put her hands out in front of her, to catch herself, giving a small cry when she landed. _Good one Kagome. You're just full of great ideas today, ne? _Her leg burned in the spot where it had connected with the root and she maneuvered herself so she was sitting up and could get a look at it.

There would be a nasty bruise there the next day and there was a pretty bad scratch, but it had only made a tiny little cut that was already starting to clot. She wiped the dirt and blood from her legs and onto the back of her blue jean shorts before standing to continue her search. This time she only glanced at the tree branches every now and then, making sure to keep an eye on her path.

"Inuyasha? Where are you?" She continued to call out to him, hoping he'd eventually answer. _Dang it! How far up stream did he go? _She shook her head and stuffed her hands in her pockets. _I need to get a dog whistle or something. _She giggled, but quickly stifled the sound. Miroku and Sango had said he was upset and he would not appreciate her coming up on him laughing.

His ears twitched when a light breeze tickled the hairs on the tips. The cool wind brought with it a new scent...Now it was his nose that twitched as he tested the air, making sure the faint aroma was what he had thought it was. Much to his dismay, he'd been right. Kagome's blood.

_Damn that wolf! He's supposed to protect her! _He stood on the tree branch he'd previously sat on and headed in the direction from which the wind was coming. _If he's gonna take her as his woman he'd better fucking protect her. Why the hell is she bleeding? I'll kill him. I'll slice him in half with Tetsuseiga if he's let her get hurt._

"Inuyasha? Where are you?"

Was she calling his name? Why would she be calling him? But then, if she had gotten injured in the wolf's care she might have needed him. Especially if Kouga himself had been the one to hurt her. His blood was boiling now as he jumped down and started in her direction at a run determined to find out what was going on.

She was walking calmly towards his hiding spot, her hands in her pockets, looking around. She didn't look injured, but then there was no telling with her. Inuyasha was in front of her before she realized he was nearby. "Where's the wolf?"

She jumped involuntarily and took a step back, he was nearly nose to nose with her. "Either at Kaede's or on his way back to the mountains, why?" She knotted her brow. He looked ready to kill someone - probably Kouga - but why? Well, besides the natural reasons of course.

"Why aren't you with him?"

Her frown deepened in confusion. "Why would I be?" She had never considered that he might still believe she would chose Kouga. Her mind had been made up a long time ago, long before Kouga ever came in the picture, that Inuyasha was the one she wanted to stay with and she had thought that she'd made that clear, but then again, after her ordeal with the wolf prince a few minutes before, she should have realized that they hadn't been clear enough.

He ignored her retort and sniffed the air again. "You're bleeding." It was a statement of fact, not a question. "Did he hurt you?" His hand automatically went for Tetsuseiga's hilt and he looked around the forest for any signs of the ookami so that he could kill him.

"No! Of course not!" She exclaimed surprised Inuyasha would come up with such an accusation. "I tripped over a root a few minutes ago and scratched my leg. It's not even bleeding anymore." She rolled her eyes when he looked slightly disappointed at not having a reason to slaughter his foe. "I came out here looking for you. Miroku-sama and Sango-chan said you ran off in a bad mood. Why? What's wrong?" She put her hand on his arm, worry evident in her eyes.

He looked down his nose at her, trying to avert his gaze, not wanting to tell her that he had been worried she _would_ leave. "Nothing," he muttered. "Come on, lets get you back to the others so you can visit and get back." He turned to the side and crouched down so she could get on his back.

She sighed and got on, wrapping her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder. "I can't believe you actually thought I was going to leave with Kouga," she said softly and felt his muscles ripple beneath her as he stood and started moving through the trees. "If I really wanted to be with him, don't you think I'd have gone with him a long time ago?"

His hands tightened their grip on the back of her legs, she could feel the slight prick of his claws on her thigh as his entire body seemed to stiffen slightly. "I don't know…" he admitted finally. His voice was so quiet that she barely heard him. "Maybe you thought it'd be different - better - with him…"

She almost smiled, but bit the inside of her cheek. "It'd certainly be different, but I don't think it'd be better. _He_ wouldn't have argued with me over going back through the well. He just wouldn't have let me go. I wouldn't have ever had to worry about _him_ running off and leaving me because he'd be too worried about loosing the jewel shards I was carrying. _He_ wouldn't have saved all those villages or those people just because I asked him to." Her arms tightened around his shoulder and he could feel her breath warm on his neck. "Don't you remember, Inuyasha? I asked to stay with by _your_ side, not his."

* * *

Kagome walked down the stairs that evening wearing the outfit her mother had bought her. The cardigan was a light and soft material and zipped up the front. She only had it zipped part way to reveal the dark red tank underneath. Running down the sleeves of the white cardigan were rose vines that had been woven into the fabric and decorated with sparkles. The light denim skirt came to just above her knees and the red heeled sandals completed the outfit. She had combed her hair out and held it back on both sides with sparkly barrettes.

Inuyasha had been waiting impatiently for her to come down, ready to get this whole dance over with. He had been dismayed when he'd found that Keiko had been shopping for him too and came home to discover the new pair of black slacks on the bed with a long sleeved dark red shirt that buttoned up as well as black loafers that pinched his toes. She'd even insisted that he wear a silver bandanna over his ears that just nearly matched his hair color so that it was less visible. The woman had wanted him to tie his hair back, but that had been where he drew the line. No one touched his hair.

He looked up when he saw Kagome coming towards him and his eyes widened as he stared at her, gawking really. It was the first time he'd ever seen her really so…dressed up. Though the outfit was a casual chic, not that different from some of the other stuff she wore, she also had on heels and had done her makeup. Her eyes were lined and a light glitter shadow applied to them, her cheeks held a healthy blush, though that was more from the way he stared at her than from powder, and her lips shimmered with a touch of red lip gloss.

She lowered her gaze, immediately feeling self conscious and fiddled with the straps of her purse. "Eh…are you…uh…ready, Inuyasha?"

He managed to close his mouth and avert his gaze for the moment. "Uh, yeah, I'm ready when you are."

Keiko waved a finger at them as she came in from the kitchen. "Nuh huh huh, not before I can get a picture of the two of you. This is Kagome's first dance after all." She maneuvered them so that they stood side by side in front of the door and snapped several pictures before she actually let them leave.

* * *

Though Kagome had warned him about the crowds and the loud music, he still had not been prepared for the barrage of attacks on his senses and she'd had to stand with him by the door for several minutes while he adjusted before she could lead him out across the room and towards the concession table where she poured them both some punch.

"Higarashi!" Her name was being called out and she stiffened while trying to ignore it. _Please don't let Inuyasha do anything rash…he was so angry when I told him Houjou asked me out and after Kouga today…_ She sent a silent prayer to the kamis that both boys would behave before turning to Houjou just as he approached with Yuka on his arm. "Hey Higarashi, I'm glad you could make it."

She smiled and raised an eyebrow at Yuka who looked up at the ceiling, a smile of her own playing on her lips. "I told you I was coming the other day, Houjou-kun. I didn't know you'd asked Yuka-chan."

He blushed lightly and Yuka lightly poked her in the arm, blushing herself. "Neither of us had dates," her friend explained. "We were talking after class this morning and…well…we just sorta decided we'd might as well go together."

Kagome giggled. "Well, both of you should have a really good time together. I know Yuka-chan's a great dancer." She grinned at her friend and then remembered Inuyasha standing behind her. In the surprise of seeing the two arm in arm she had momentarily forgotten that she had her own date. "Oh! Inuyasha, this is Houjou-kun, a friend of mine from school, and you know Yuka-chan. Houjou, this is my date Taishou Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's hands came to rest protectively on her shoulders. He had been secretly scowling at the boy since he first approached, not liking the way the boy's eyes scanned Kagome's body. "Hey."

"It's nice to meet you, Taishou," Houjou replied dryly. "Well, Yuka and I are going to go find the other girls. She's been looking for them since we got here. Goodnight Higarashi, Taishou."

"Night." Kagome brought her hand up and covered Inuyasha's with it then tugged him out towards where the students were dancing just as a slow song started to play. "Dance with me, please?" Without waiting for his consent, she brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders.

He blinked and blushed slightly before gripping her hips in his hands and bringing her closer to him, moving as she had shown him the day before. When she sighed contentedly and laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes he stopped moving for a moment and then went back into step, wrapping his arms more securely around her then rested his chin on her head. Some of the other couples were watching them, but he ignored them and Kagome didn't seem to notice.

Maybe dancing wasn't so bad after all…

* * *

Reviewer Comments:

Gabriella100 - I love the fact that they're engaged. I like to do my absolute best at anything I do...thought that may not always show through (or else my best looks really bad) on some of my fics. :) Thanks!

Kitsune-Kit - Those bandanna's serve double duty:)

Dan D. Kags - Well, it may be slow going but it's coming. Just hang in there. :)

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

**_To Begin Again  
_PrincessMelissa83**

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* * *

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A/N: This chapter and the next are slightly shorter than what I've been giving. This and Chapter 10 are only 9 or 10 pages in Word where as the others were anywhere from 16 to 18 in Word. Still, I think they get the point up.

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**Scroll Nine: Relationships**

"Miroku!" Sango stared at the sight before her with large brown eyes. She paled several shades before her cheeks turned red with anger. There, in front of practically the entire village, stood her betrothed clasping the hands of another woman. The said other woman looked shocked to see Sango, but had been blushing as the monk spoke to her. The taijiya could only imagine what the man had been saying. Unable to force herself to speak further, she turned on her heel and practically ran back towards Kaede's hut.

The houshi started at the unexpected exclamation of his name and turned to see his shocked fiancé. He could undoubtedly guess what was on her mind when he looked guiltily down at his hands, still gripped around the other woman's hands. Quickly he let her go and turned around to explain, only to find Sango's retreating back.

"Please do excuse me, Mika, but I must go and take care of this misunderstanding," he apologized shortly before jogging off after the runaway bride. "Sango! Sango, please, just stop and listen. I can explain."

The woman turned on him, dark brown eyes blazing with an intensity that he had not seen since they fought Naraku. But behind the anger was a stronger feeling, one of betrayal and disappointment. She had trusted him when he told her that…wait…he had never told her that he loved her. He had only said that he was keeping his promise. Maybe it had nothing to do with love…he just felt responsible…

She choked trying to hold back a sob. He held her arms now so that she couldn't run away and she fought to loosen his hold. "I don't want your explanations, Miroku! I understand, believe me I do." When she decided he wasn't going to let her go, she turned her head away from him and went limp in his grip. "I just can't listen to them any longer. Old habits die hard, yes, I know. You cannot help yourself, I understand."

"Sango, it was nothing like that." He tried to get her to look at him, knowing he had messed up. But he had to make her understand that his actions had nothing to do with what she believed. He couldn't and wouldn't allow some silly misunderstanding to come between them.

She simply closed her eyes, keeping her gaze from him. She did not want him to see just how much it had hurt her to see him flirting with another woman after he had promised himself to her. "Then it's true," she muttered quietly. "You only asked me to live with you, to be your wife, because you felt you would find no one else. Now that Naraku is gone you've only stood by that promise because of some strange sense of honor?"

"Sango -"

"Miroku, I do not want you to only marry me out of obligation. I would much rather pretend this entire thing had never happened if that was your only reasoning." Her cheeks blossomed into a light blush when she felt a tear roll down her cheek followed by another. "Now let me go."

His hands on her arms tightened. "Not until you hear what I have to say." He loosened one hand and brought it up to grip her chin, turning her face to look at him. "The woman you saw me with just now is named Mika. Her mother has a talent with a needle and thread. One of the young men here in the village is going to visit a relative a few days travel from here. While there, he is going to use the money that I have given him to purchase several lengths of fine cloth which Mika's mother will then piece together into a wedding kimono for you. I was giving Mika the money and thanking her for help in arranging my gift to you, Sango."

Her lower lip trembled and she blinked back more tears as her heart suddenly became a little less burdened and hope rose in her eyes. "Miroku -"

He maneuvered his hand so that his fingers covered her lips. "When I asked you before if you would live with me and bear my children, I asked because I knew that you were special and that I would never meet another woman like you. You, Sango, were a woman that I could spend my _life_ with. I would never have asked you otherwise. My being here has nothing to do with honor. I'm in love with you, Sango. I thought you understood that."

She released a breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding and stared at him with large eyes, trying to see if what he said was really true. _Please let it be true_…Finally deciding that he had hidden nothing from her in his gaze, she leaned into him, fisting her hands into the material of his robes. "I'm sorry, Miroku," she muttered and closed her eyes taking in the sense of him surrounding her.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, lightly kissing the top of her head. His hand rubbed gentle circles over her back as she finally began to relax. "It's alright, Sango. I know that in the past I have not been the perfect example of monogamy, but you are going to have to trust me." He felt her nod against his chest and smiled slightly. "You can trust me, you know. I would never purposefully hurt you. I want you to be happy. I want to make you happy."

She sighed and slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, nodding again. "I'm sorry Miroku…I'm sorry I didn't trust you. I want to trust you. I…I love you…"

He loosened one arm and brought it up to her face, cupping her cheek for a moment sliding his hand down to her chin, lifting so that she had to look at him. Her eyes opened in surprise and met his before he captured her lips with his in a soft kiss. Her eyes slid closed and when he pulled away she found herself leaning up on her tip toes in an effort to keep his actions going. He chuckled and brushed his lips across hers once more before letting her go.

* * *

Kagome shook her head and stood up. How could she have let her mother talk her into this? She had known that this night would be a disaster and she was right. Her father was hounding her for information regarding Inuyasha and her stepmother was acting oblivious to the whole thing. Poor Souta looked like he expected the Grim Reaper to burst through the closet and drag him to hell at any second. Too bad her little brother failed to realize one thing - this _was_ hell. Kagome's own personal hell to be exact.

She reached over and put a hand on Souta's arm, sighing when he nearly jumped out of his skin. Her dark blue eyes went to her father and narrowed. "It's time that this dinner was over."

"But we haven't even had dessert yet," Ikoku argued quietly, looking disappointed. She set her chopsticks down and looked at her plate. Things weren't going well, she realized that, but she wanted so badly to be accepted by her husband's children.

"I'm really sorry, Ikoku-san, but I think it would be best if we went home now. Thank you very much for the invitation and the meal. Your oden was delicious and I'm sure you're dessert would have been too." She managed an apologetic smile at the woman who couldn't have been more than ten years older than she was.

"You must take some home with you then, if you must go. I'll put it in a container for you." Ikoku brightened slightly and attempted to stand up, managing slowly and with a grunt. "Your family likes chocolate, ne? I made a two layer fudge cake with white chocolate frosting. How many people are in your house? I want to make sure to send enough."

Kagome started gathering her stuff and rifled through her purse for her mother's cell phone and handed it to Souta. "Go call Mama and tell her we're coming home so she won't worry." He nodded and took the phone, glad for an excuse to leave the table. "There's five if you count Inuyasha - he's there so much he practically lives there…" she added when Haruki's brow quirked in a curious manner, "but I don't know if chocolate would be good for him..." Dogs were allergic to chocolate, weren't they? She'd always heard that you shouldn't give a dog chocolate because it would make them sick and Inuyasha _was_ part inu youkai...but he was only _part_ inu youkai so maybe it wouldn't hurt him...She'd let him have a small piece if he asked just to make sure he didn't get ill.

"Five? Your mother must be a saint." Ikoku grinned. "How does she manage to take care of four people? I can't even begin to imagine how I'm going to take care of the baby _and_ Haruki."

Kagome shrugged. "Mama is a great person. She's very patient and she's very understanding and accepting and loving and...well, she's the best mother anyone could ever ask for." _She puts up with an egotistical, arrogant, rude hanyou and a daughter who's hardly there because of time travel...and she's putting up with you_. She looked around as Souta came back into the room.

"Mama doesn't want us walking home alone," he stated flatly and handed the phone back to her.

Haruki stood up and reached for his coat. "I'll take you."

"I'd rather risk walking alone."

Father and daughter glared at each other, the anger between them rising to a new level. There was still so much to be said between them and neither felt that they could say it for fear of hurting the present company. She was quickly realizing that what she told Inuyasha before about hating Ikoku wasn't true. She didn't hate the woman - couldn't hate the woman, really. It wasn't her fault that she loved Haruki despite his past. After all, all she had to do was look at her own relationship with Inuyasha. And she certainly wasn't going to place blame on the unborn child. Besides Naraku's incarnation in baby form, it wasn't in her nature to hate a child. It wasn't like the kid chose to who it's parents were and she would make sure to be as much a part of her half sibling's life as she was in Souta's life. Kami forbid that they should have a relationship like some _other_ half siblings she knew.

"Mama sent Inuyasha to come and get us so you don't have to bother." Souta interrupted their stare down and shifted from side to side nervously. "It shouldn't take him long to get here."

Kagome groaned. "He's gonna have to take the elevator." She could just imagine Inuyasha trying to figure out how to work the lift without her there to show him.

Souta snickered. "I hope the building's got a good insurance policy."

Haruki frowned in confusion. What were they talking about? "Hasn't the boy ever used an elevator before? What's the big deal?"

"No, he's not used one before and the big deal is - is that it's not really any of your business." Kagome crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from her father. "Souta, do you mind waiting downstairs for him? You can buzz me when he gets here."

"Sure, nee-chan, whatever." He nodded and practically flew out of the door, grateful to be allowed to get away.

Haruki hung his coat back up and sent a cold look to his daughter. "There was no need to send that boy. I could have taken you home myself. What good is a kid like him going to be if you get attacked on your way back to the shrine? These streets are dangerous." He crossed his arms over his chest, his stance matching that of Kagome. Ikoku looked from one to the other as she put the container of cake with the teen's things and almost smiled at the similarities between them.

Kagome took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing to mere slits. "Inuyasha is quite capable of protecting us. He does it every day and he wouldn't think twice about risking his own life to save me or Souta. He's stronger than you give him credit for and he's a very capable fighter. There is no one in the world that I'd feel safer with. Mama trusts him and most importantly, _I_ trust him."

"I would still feel better if I was the one taking you home. That way I would know you were safe."

Kagome's hands fell to her side and her fists clenched. "How dare you stand there and try to act fatherly and protective! Since when do you care about our well being? Stop pretending to be our father. We've gotten along just fine these past years without you and we'll get along just fine when you decide to leave again. I don't need you. Souta doesn't need you. Mama doesn't need you."

Haruki gave her a warning look. "You cannot make decisions based on things you know nothing about. I am about sick of your attitude young lady."

"And I should care because?" Her look was curious while still being angry.

"I am your father."

"So you say." She shook her head in disgust. "You say I shouldn't make decisions based on things I know nothing about? What don't I know? Why don't you tell me? _Tell me_!" She hadn't realized she'd started to cry until then and she quickly and roughly wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Haruki just stood there, staring at her with nothing to say...nothing he could say. She knew why. His career had been the foremost thing on his mind in those days and while he realized now that it was wrong of him to leave, he had done it and there was nothing he could do to change it. And he really didn't want to admit aloud that his decisions had been bad ones.

Luckily the buzzer saved him and Souta announced that Inuyasha had arrived while Inuyasha was in the background demanding that she hurry her ass up. Kagome grabbed her jacket and her purse, wiping her eyes clear as best she could. He'd still know she'd been crying, but at least Souta wouldn't be able to see it. "Thank you very much for the meal, Ikoku-san. I apologize if we made the afternoon unpleasant for you." Her voice was monotone as she tried to keep herself under control. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kagome. Tell your brother that I enjoyed meeting him." Ikoku walked her to the front door while Haruki stormed to the bedroom like a pouting child. "Your Inuyasha sounds like a fantastic boy. You're lucky to have him." Before Kagome could leave however, she grabbed the teen's arm. "I know your father has done things in the past that were stupid and downright mean, but he really does want to try and be a father now. He wishes for the four - five of us to be a functional family. He wants the baby to know you both and so do I, more than anything."

Kagome sighed. "I won't promise that I'll change my views on him, but I'll still be here for the baby. I mean, it can't help who its father is. For the baby's sake I hope he is ready to be a father again. For your sake too. He put Mama through hell when he left and I'd hate to know it was happening to someone else."

* * *

"What happened?" Inuyasha demanded, frowning when she came off the elevator to meet them in the lobby. "And don't say nothing 'cause the kid's upset and you've been crying." His fists clenched involuntarily with his desire to go upstairs and teach Higarashi Haruki just what happens to people that hurt his family.

Kagome shook her head and put a hand on his arm, sliding it down till she could grasp his hand in hers. "Don't worry about it, Inuyasha. There's nothing you can do about it now, so just don't worry about it." She sighed and gave him a grateful half smile when he squeezed her hand.

Souta walked in front of them so they could keep an eye on him on the dark streets. "I told you, Inu-no-nii-chan, she and dad got in a fight," he reiterated, looking over his shoulder as he spoke. "He said you and Kagome -"

"Souta," she hissed in warning. Inuyasha had paused and was attempting to backtrack back to the building, but she tugged his hand, keeping him in place. "Don't, Inuyasha, it's not worth it. He was just trying to tell me what to do and I wouldn't listen."

"Damnit, Kagome, why are you putting up with his shit?" Inuyasha mumbled. Knowing he wasn't supposed to curse in front of the kid, he tried to keep his voice down. "Your ofukoro already said if you didn't want to deal with him, you didn't have to."

Kagome took a deep breath and shook her head. "It isn't about me, Inuyasha," she replied in a hushed voice. "It's about Souta. The fact of the matter is that dad's been really good to him so far and Souta needs a father figure in his life - someone besides jii-chan. Mama and I've done all we can, but there's just some things he's gonna need a man around to teach him." She looked at the back of her brother's head and smiled slightly. They may fight and he may have gotten on her nerves on a regular basis, but he was her brother and she wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. "Souta's decided if I shut dad out, then he is too. So, if I have to put up with his disapproval of my choice of activities or friends so that Souta can know his father then I'll just have to get used to it."

Inuyasha scowled and started to say something, but Souta interrupted. He'd been quiet while the two were conversing, but now he decided to voice his thoughts. "I don't get what dad's problem is. I mean, what's he got against Inuyasha, anyway? He doesn't even know him."

Kagome had a few ideas as to what Haruki's grudge against the hanyou might have been, but she decided not to voice them. Instead she said, "Some people are just like that, that's all. He'll get over it eventually."

"Yeah, well, the next time he says anything," Inuyasha growled, "you can tell him the feeling's mutual."

* * *

Kagome brushed out her hair in front of her dresser mirror while Inuyasha sat on her bed with his eyes closed, hands tucked into the opposite sleeves. "Remind me to never agree to that sort of thing again. I'd rather have been here." She put her brush down and went to the bed, crawling across the covers until she sat next to him and could lay her head over on his shoulder. "He's even more irritating than you." He grunted in response and she giggled, nudging him with her elbow.

"I don't get how he could've left his kids behind. What's he do that's so important?" Inuyasha wondered out loud. Normally he'd have never voiced his curiosity at the situation but they were alone and they were in her era which made him feel more open and free to speak to her as he would like to speak with her. For some reason the comfort she felt in her own home and in her own time made him feel more at ease with her…and that there was no chance a certain monk or kitsune could be spying on them had something to do with it also.

Kagome sighed and lifted her head from his shoulder, shifting so that she could draw her knees up to her chest. "He's a stock broker and his job is dealing with people's money and businesses. Say Miroku opened an inn and to get money to start the inn, he sold a share of the inn to each of us. He would own the majority of the inn so that would make him the official owner but we would still own a part of it. As Miroku's inn began to take in patrons and earn money, we would earn a percentage of the profit. If Miroku didn't get any customers and started loosing money, we'd loose too. Say, Sango was tired of loosing money by investing in the inn, she would go to someone like my dad and cash out her stock in the inn and my dad would find someone else to buy her share of the inn for a reduced price."

Inuyasha nodded. While words like 'stock' or 'stock broker' made little to no sense to him, he could understand her explanation of Haruki's work. The concept wasn't _that_ difficult to grasp. "So, why'd he leave?"

Her eyes closed and she seemed to draw in on herself. "We lived in an apartment on the other side of Tokyo when Souta and I were born. It was a nice place to live from what I remember. Then, when I was six he had to go on a business trip to talk to some of the company people about changes in the business or something like that. He was gonna be gone for a month so Mama moved us into the shrine with Jii-chan."

She scooted closer to him while she talked and he absently lifted his arm so she could snuggle into his side with his arm around her shoulders. She bit her lip to hide her smile and continued. "I was upset because he was leaving so he promised that he would take me to the beach when he got back. We'd all go, he'd said, and he'd teach me to swim. He also promised that he'd bring me back an extra special present because he would be missing my birthday.

"When he came back, he was excited about something and I could hear him and Mama talking in the back bedroom. When they came out, he was angry and Mama was upset. I didn't know what was wrong at the time, but he didn't even unpack his bags before he came and told me and Souta that he had to leave again. Jii-chan was angry too…apparently he knew what was going on. When they went outside, he and dad got into it.

"It wasn't until a few days later that dad came back and explained to me that he had to go leave us. I guess he and Mama had been arguing about it while he was gone because they already had made a decision. He would go to this new company and work there and we would stay with Jii-chan. Since he was going to be gone for so long, he and Mama were going to get divorced - they wouldn't be married anymore." Her fingers played with the hem of her pajama shirt. "He never did take me to the beach."

Inuyasha's arm tightened around her shoulders and she smiled gratefully, leaning further into him. "I wrote him letters and I tried calling him, but he never returned them. After a while I gave and decided he didn't want us anymore, that he didn't care. After that I didn't care anymore. I had Souta and Mama and Jii-chan and my friends so it wasn't like I was missing out on anything." She yawned and he removed his arm, scooting off of the bed and starting for the window when she reached out a hand to stop him. "It's supposed to rain tonight."

"Oh." He gave the window a skeptical look and then looked back at Kagome who was looking at him expectantly, wondering if he was really considering sleeping in the rain. "Well…uh…where's that other room you were talking about?"

A smile spread on her face and she grabbed his hand, crawling off the bed to show him to his room.

* * *

Reviewer Comments:

1. Ranuel - Thanks. I admit that I do have a tendency to ignore Shippou sometimes. It's just difficult to find a place for him in a lot of situations, but it just seems right to have him front and center this time and I don't have as much trouble with the current plot. And I love the Miroku/Sango duo. They do tend come off as comic relief whenever Kagome and Inuyasha are arguing, but on the side, each of them is a deeper character with a lot of things stacked against them and their relationship with each other, though not so advanced in the manga/anime, is still strong as evidenced in the 'Band of Seven' arc when Miroku would have died from youkai poisoning had it not been for the living god's purifying barrier and Sango begged him not to leave her, that she couldn't go on without him.

As for the situation with her father...I'm a paralegal and I work for a divorce lawyer so I've seen lots of different situations and that has been one of them. I don't plan for the angst filled relationship between the two of them to go on forever, but you have to admit that would be something that would put a real damper on the father-daughter bond. But, as we also seen, Kagome _is_ an exceptionally forgiving person.

2. Gabriella100 - Thank you. I hope you liked this one too.

3. Kitsune Kit - Thanks! I thought there aught to a be a little sweetness and comedy in this chapter and that was Shippou's job. He's not dumb as some peole think he is.


	10. Chapter 10

_**To Begin Again  
**_**PrincessMelissa83**

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**Scroll Ten: Visits**

Kagome ran down the stairs of the house at the Higarashi residence, her loafers in one hand, a small backpack in the other. "Morning Mama, Jii-chan!" She greeted them cheerfully, dropping her backpack by the kitchen door. "Where's Souta?"

"He left for school already, dear. You were running late," Higarashi Keiko said handing her daughter a plate with a few pieces of toast on it.

"How late am I that Souta leaves me?" She took a piece of toast and put it in her mouth as she slipped her shoes on. Taking the toast back in her hand she swallowed the first bite and waved to the others. "Oh well, I'll see you guys after school. Inuyasha said he was going through the well early this morning to give Sango and Miroku an update. He'll be back before I get back I'm sure, so just let him lounge in my room or something, 'kay?" She grabbed her backpack and jogged out only to turn and stick her head back in. "In fact, he's here!"

He stopped behind her as she turned back around. "You're gonna be late."

"I know," she huffed in return. Why was everyone reminding her of that? "Mama made breakfast if you're hungry. See you later, Inuyasha." She grinned at him and took off at a jog towards the shrine steps, waving over her shoulder.

* * *

Kagome had only been gone for a few hours when Inuyasha sighed and flopped out on the floor of the Higarashi's family room. Keiko had turned on the television (he was getting used to it now), but he had no interest in the shows. It was boring without Kagome around no matter which side of the well he was on. When Buyo came over for his traditional romp with the inu hanyou, he was more than happy to oblige and immediately began to irritate the fat feline.

* * *

Science had never been her favorite subject, but she was determined to finish top in all of her classes and so Kagome was completely focused on her project - or tried to be. Her grades had hit an all time low the last few months she was in the Sengoku Jidai and she had to work extra hard to get them back to where she wanted them even though she'd been back in her time for a near two months now. 

Kagome had been working with Eri while Ayami and Yuka worked the lab just across the table from them so that the four friends were facing one another. Her friends didn't have near as much willpower as she did and they had begun to gossip. Their table was towards the back, along the wall, so it was easier to talk and not be caught.

"Have you heard that Mia and Mamoru-kun started officially dating last weekend?" Eri said as she mixed her chemicals together, only half paying attention to what she was doing. "He's actually exclusive now."

"Are you sure you're doing that right, Eri-chan?" Kagome questioned. The other girl nodded distractedly.

"I expect your projects and handouts ready to be turned in by the end of class," the blonde haired science teacher informed them as she straitened from helping one set of students. "And remember that these chemicals are highly flammable and possibly explosive if mixed in the wrong way or with the wrong components. You have to pay extra attention to what you are doing here. That means no idle gossip girls." She had worked her way towards the back, looking directly at Kagome and her friends as they blushed and tried to hide their giggles.

As if to punctuate the science teacher's words, there was a loud _boom_ from the front of the room and several shrill shrieks from the girls responsible. Kaori only barely managed to suppress a groan and turned on her heels to hurry to the guilty parties. Everyone was silent as the mess was cleaned up and the girls were reprimanded.

"Well that was interesting," Yuka breathed looking at her own vial of chemicals. She bit her lip and reread the last line of her instructions.

Ayami looked over her shoulder at the stuttering couple who were trying to explain away their actions. "I thought for sure it'd be us," she muttered looking back at her friends.

"They just beat Eri-chan to the punch." Kagome didn't even look up as she spoke, but she could feel three pairs of eyes on her as her friends stopped in their actions to stare at her. Then, one of them snorted very quietly which led to a squeak from another girl before all four giggled helplessly into their hands.

* * *

Shippou had burst into tears when Inuyasha returned without Kagome. Inuyasha only glared at him, and the kit started to calm down when he explained his reasons for being there. 

"The thing is," he said harshly, "that Kagome misses you and she may not be able to come back for a while now. I didn't tell her anything, but I thought…I thought it might make her feel better to see you guys so I was going to try and take all three of you through to her."

"Do you think it would work?" Sango asked curiously. "We've never been able to pass before."

"Yeah, but Kagome was able to take me before remember?" Shippou reminded them, suddenly getting excited.

Inuyasha shrugged. "It's worth a shot ain't it?"

They nodded and stood up, letting him lead them to the well. For the first time they seemed to notice his odd clothes. "Inuyasha?" Miroku questioned. "What are you wearing?"

"The same thing you'll be wearing if this works," he snapped. "Kagome'd be furious if I let you go out in her world dressed like that. I ain't been sat in a long time and I don't plan on giving her any reason to now."

Kaede smiled. She knew Kagome wasn't going to subdue him, no matter how mad the girl got. She had questioned the old miko months before about removing the rosary, but had decided against it when she realized that might be the only thing that allowed him to travel the well.

The kitsune hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder while the hanyou grabbed the Houshi and the taijiya by the arm, bounding over the edge of the well. There was a flash of light and Kaede looked over the edge, pleased to see that all four were no longer there. It had worked after all.

In the well house, Inuyasha leapt out of the well and waited while the two humans climbed out, then led them to the Higarashi house. They were greeted by a surprised Keiko who was quickly introduced to her daughter's feudal era friends and welcomed them into her home with a cheerful smile.

"Oh, Inuyasha, Kagome will be so excited. I know she's missed all of you terribly," she told them brightly and then paused as she got an idea. "Oh, why don't the four of you go meet her after school? I'm sure she'd love the surprise."

Inuyasha nodded and waved the other three towards the stairs. Buyo looked up from Kagome's bed as they came in the girl's room, but seemed to decide they weren't important enough to bother with. Sango and Miroku examined their friend's knickknacks while Shippou jumped on the bed to get reacquainted with the feline.

When several garments were thrown in her direction, Sango barely had time to react, but managed to catch them. "What are these for?"

"They're for you to wear. In case you didn't notice, women in Kagome's time dress differently. You and Kagome are close enough to the same size." Inuyasha rolled his eyes and picked Shippou up but the tail. "Come on monk, you'll have to borrow my clothes." Miroku didn't move until Inuyasha grabbed his arm and drug him from the room, slamming the door behind them to give Sango some privacy.

Some time later they all met back up in the living room, Sango desperately trying to keep her skirt down. She had tried to find something more suitable, but it seemed her friend was awfully fond of short skirts and very short pants (shorts). Now she was wearing a denim skirt that reached a few inches above her knees and a gray tee-shirt. She'd kept her own shoes on because they were comfortable and she didn't exactly wear the same size as Kagome in that department. Inuyasha looked her over and decided she looked normal enough for this era. Miroku sported a burgundy colored button up shirt and blue jeans, giving Sango a low whistle while she glared daggers at him, wishing she'd thought to bring Hiraikotsu with her.

"Let's go."

* * *

"'kay! I'll call you later tonight and we can go over those equations. I think I finally got it figured out," Kagome called to a group of girls who were walking in another direction as she came out of the school building. 

It took her a minute to figure out who was with him, she was so used to seeing them in their usual kimonos that she didn't recognize them when Miroku strolled up wearing a the burgundy shirt and jeans and Sango looked even more foreign to her in the short skirt and tee. It wasn't until she saw Shippou perched on Inuyasha's shoulder that it clicked just who her visitors were. She would have squealed had her entire class not been piling out of the school behind her. "Sango-chan! Miroku-sama! How did you guys get here!" She exclaimed as loud as possible and ran towards them.

Shippou jumped from Inuyasha's shoulder to her waiting arms and wrapped his around her as far as he could. "Inuyasha brought us. He didn't know if it'd work fr all of us, but he thought it was worth a try."

"It certainly was," she said, smiling gratefully at the hanyou who blushed and 'keh'd' under his breath. "I'm glad you guys were able to come through. I've missed you all so much!" She petted his head. "Where's Kirara?"

"I left her with Kaede," Sango said, looking a little said. "We didn't think she'd get along very well on your side of the well."

Kagome sighed, knowing it was hard for Sango to leave her friend behind. "You should have brought her. I'd bet she and Buyo would get along great. He would have kept her company while you were gone." She shifted from one foot to the other and then took Inuyasha's hand, walking towards her house. "I am so sick of this, you guys. I want to go back through the well with you so bad." She frowned. "But my baka otou decided to show…it feels like I'll never get back."

Miroku patted her shoulder gently. "Of course you will, Kagome-sama. You just have to be patient."

Kagome shrugged. "I know, it's just taking a long time. So, what am I missing? What's happening on your side?"

Miroku gave her an innocent smile. "Sango-chan and I have been planning our wedding, mostly."

"No," Sango said slowly, glaring at the monk, "I've been planning a wedding. Miroku has been building a harem." Her look darkened. "He's been flirting with every available girl in the village - and some who aren't available."

"That's not true, Sango. I have been very proper in my interactions with the village girls." He put one hand to his heart, giving her a wounded look.

Kagome glared. "You'd better be or I'll make you wish the Kazaana _had_ consumed you." She smiled at Sango. "I went to my first school dance. Inuyasha took me _and_ he danced with me."

"You didn't give me much choice, did you?" The previously ignored hanyou grumbled even though his grip on her hand tightened. "You'd better not try and drag me to any more of those things, wench. The music was too loud and there was too many people and they were trying to touch my hair."

Her glare transferred from Miroku to Inuyasha. "I told you that you didn't have to go. I would have been perfectly safe with Houjou-kun as my date. He did ask me and he would have loved it if I'd said yes."

Sango and Miroku shared a knowing look. Inuyasha would no more have let Kagome go anywhere with another boy than he would have let Naraku take the jewel. Had he just outright refused to go, Kagome probably would have stayed at home too. "Who is Houjou-kun?"

"Houjou…well…Houjou is a boy that they tried to set me up with several times. He's really sweet and all, but he's just not my type." Kagome gave Sango and Miroku a curious look when both of them shared a knowing glance then blushed when she realized they were looking down at her hand wrapped around Inuyasha's.

* * *

"So, what do you plan to do about your chichi-ue?" Kagome and Sango were the only two still up. Souta and Shippou had gone to bed early after having worn themselves out running around the shrine all day, playing various games. Miroku had also retired after Kagome had expressly forbid him from watching any more television without her supervision. The lecherous monk had been enjoying various adult channels available on cable after the concept of television and the remote control had been explained to him. Inuyasha had gotten board and had finally gone to bed himself, coming back with the complaint that Miroku had stolen 'his' bed ("Well, he did get there first…") ("You weren't even using it…") and stormed off once more muttering colorful threats that Kagome seriously doubted he could go through with. 

"I don't know…I guess I kinda have to tell him eventually," she said with a shrug. "I'm not gonna stop going through the well and visiting you guys just because he's around. He has no right to have any say in what I do with my life - he hasn't been here for ten years of it."

Sango nodded her agreement and pulled the afghan quilt up around her bare legs. She was wearing a pare of blue boxer type shorts that Kagome had given her and a matching tee-shirt for sleeping in. "I can see your point, though, I kind of think that it might be good if you were to give him the chance he is looking for…the chance to get to know you without so much arguing."

Kagome rolled her eyes and switched the television off since they weren't watching it anyway. She was on the other side of the couch, with the other end of the afghan over her own bare legs. "Sango, he abandoned us. He chose to leave us here with Jii-chan and further his own career. It isn't like I never tried, you know. I wrote him letters all the time and he never replied. I tried calling his office and his home and he never answered and never returned my calls. I learned English just to be able to ask his secretary if he was there and to tell her that his daughter was calling, please call her back. I begged him to come visit or to let me and Souta come to him. He ignored me." She shook her head, clasping her arms around her legs. "I know why you think I should, Sango, but my chichi-ue isn't like yours was."

Sango gave a soft smile and nodded. "I suppose you are right," she conceded, "but what about his new wife and the baby that she is going to have?" It wasn't the hot springs, but it was the first time the two girls had had any private time to talk and they were swapping secrets just as the always did while bathing.

Kagome smiled a genuine smile. "Well, Ikoku-san is nice enough. She really wants me and chichi-ue (she had gotten used to calling him by a more traditional term for the sake of her friends) to get along so that we can all be 'one big happy family.' It's not going to happen, but I can stand to get along with her. Souta's kinda warming up to her too. He's not as quiet and shy around her as he was at first." She shrugged and played with her hair. "As for the baby…I'll treat it like I treat Souta - as a sibling. It's not the baby's fault that all of this happened. And it might be kinda nice to have another little brother or sister to help take care of. I really kinda hope it's a girl. I've already got one brother. I want a sister now."

Sango giggled. "You've got a long wait ahead of you."

"Two weeks I think. Ikoku-san said she had a doctor's appointment here soon and they'd let her know for the baby shower."

The other girl's brows furrowed in confusion and she sat forward, suddenly extremely interested. "What do you mean two weeks? I thought you said his wife was only four or five months along?"

Kagome giggled at her friend's confusion, having forgotten that being from the feudal era the elder girl would not know about modern technology. There are ways today that people can find out if they're having a boy or a girl and how many they're having - whether it's twins or triplets or what have you - called an ultrasound. They have a special camera looking thing that they use to move over your belly that projects a picture to the womb and what's inside onto a television screen. It's not a very good picture, but it works well enough. The baby's developed enough at about five months that you can tell whether it'll be a boy or a girl."

Sango was listening with wide eyes, very much impressed by the new innovations of Kagome's world. There were so many things that could help people in this world. With the new machines and knowledge that the doctors had in this era, they might have even been able to save Kohaku…

Kagome saw the sad look that entered Sango's brown eyes and frowned, knowing she had brought up a bad memory. It wasn't right for her friend to have to be so sad all of the time. It just wasn't right. "Gomen ne, Sango-chan. I wish I'd known more about medicine…if I had…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

The older girl seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts, her eyes refocusing on Kagome's now concerned face. "Iie, daijoubou, Kagome-chan." She yawned, an obviously fake move, but Kagome decided not to call her on it. "I'm getting sleepy. I think I'm going to head up to bed. Are you coming, Kagome-chan?"

She nodded and tossed the cover off of her, standing and stretching a bit. "Hai, I'm coming."

* * *

They were heading back down the well today. Sango and Miroku still had things to work on in their era, their house and wedding plans included, and Sango was beginning to miss Kirara. The other two had changed into their feudal era clothing, a stark contrast to the modernistic clothes worn by both Inuyasha and Kagome. 

"Can I please stay with you, Kagome-kaa?" Shippou begged from the circle of her arms, having latched on to her shirt for dear life. "Onegai, kaa-chan? Onegai?" His dark green eyes watered and shimmered with tears, a sure fire indication he was about to bawl for all he was worth.

"You won't have any fun here, Shippou," Kagome tried to intervene before the waterworks. "Souta-chan has to go to school every day and he's gonna have homework to do and he's not gonna have much time to play with you."

"What about you, 'kaa-chan?" He sniffled and looked up at her hopefully.

Inuyasha grunted, determined the runt was going back with the others. It wasn't that he didn't like the little fellow. He grudgingly admitted to himself (though not to anyone else) that the kitsune cub was almost like his own son and that's how Kagome called him to her friends - her and Inuyasha's son. That did not mean he wanted the cub there for the rest of the week or however long he planned to stay. In Sengoku Jidai he had no time alone with Kagome, but in her era he could be with her as much as he wanted to. "Kagome can't play with you," he stated gruffly. "She's got school too and she can't study with you bouncing all over her."

"But I won't bounce on you, kaa-chan, I promise." Kagome was about to break down, he could feel it and he had to think of some way to get the kit to hush before she agreed. "I'll be really good and I'll be quiet and I won't ask you to run around."

Kagome hugged him and kissed the top of his head. "I know you would, Shippou, but I really think that you should go back with Sango-chan and Miroku-sama. Kirara would miss you if you stayed here and…" she trailed off knowing it was going to have to come eventually, but not looking forward to it at all. "And I really have to take care of my problems with my chichi-ue and I wouldn't be able to do that…"

Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest, silently congratulating Kagome. _Good girl. You'd better not break down and let that runt stay. I ain't gonna allow it._

Shippou pouted and contemplated whining a little more, but finally sighed and nodded, jumping to Sango's waiting arms and taking his place perched on her shoulder. Kagome gave them all one last hug and watched from the top of the well house steps as they leapt over the edge and were engulfed by the familiar blue light that carried her back and forth. Inuyasha turned his back to her and knelt so she could wrap her arm around his shoulders and lift herself onto his back. He headed back to the house, but turned suddenly and started down the steps to the streets. It was then she realized he'd already placed a bandanna over his ears.

"Inuyasha, where are you going?" She hugged him tighter. "You can't carry me through Tokyo."

"Why not?" His voice was haughty as they blended into the crowd…or as well as they could with her on his back and his white hair flowing in her face. "There's no rule against it…if there is, it's a stupid one. I'm taking you for a walk. You looked like you needed out of the house."

"Inuyasha?" She giggled and raised one hand up to tweak his ear since he had forgotten to wear a cap or a bandanna. "I think going for a walk would mean I actually walk."

"Keh."

* * *

Reviewer Comments:

1. Ranuel - So, the transition was okay? It wasn't too unexpected? I don't want to ignore Miroku and Sango now that they are not in the same era as Kagome and Inuyasha and I have a tendency to do that, but I'm trying really hard. He _has_ earned the distrust, but then, it's hard for Sango to trust anyway.

2. Kitsune Kit - No, he's not. He's got a big mouth sometimes, but other than that... (I do think he's a little hard on Inuyasha sometimes..)


	11. Chapter 11

Note: Listened to The Dixie Chicks, "Not Ready to Make Nice" while writing this. It works, if you have it.

Also, I found a map of the Higarashi house on the internet and there's only four bedrooms. I know I had Inuyasha sleeping in a spare room in the previous chapters (and I really should go back and correct that) but now he's staying in the room with Souta.

As another note, it looks like there's only gonna be three more chapters and a short epilogue after this. Yay!

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**Scroll Eleven: Acceptance**

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Kagome rolled over and sighed, kicking the covers slightly off. It had been a long, sleepless night and it was well into early morning now. She hadn't a clue how she was going to get through the day if she couldn't sleep soon, but her thoughts kept her awake.

Earlier that morning, her mother had sat her down and had a long talk with her regarding her father, forcing Kagome to accept a few things she had been reluctant to when he first appeared.

"_Kagome, I know how much it hurt you when he left. I understand that you felt abandoned, but honey, you loved him so much when he was here. Did that really change?" Keiko tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter's ears and looked at her curiously._

_Kagome sighed and studied the weave pattern in the tatami mats. "I...I don't know." _

_Keiko put her arm around her shoulders and gave her a slight squeeze. "Did you know that when your father and I got married, I was the age you are now? He was just starting college, but we didn't want to wait so I quit school to be with him. It was hard at first, but we got by and then we had you and he was so proud. He wanted so much for you, Kagome; so much that we just couldn't give at the time."_

_She sighed and kissed her daughter's temple. "We were so young, Kagome, and we had been sheltered our entire lives. Back then, we knew nothing about life and very little about each other. If we had waited and taken the time the way we should have, we probably would have never married. But, even with all that's happened, I wouldn't change a thing. Haruki gave me the most wonderful gifts - he gave me two beautiful, talented, intelligent children and I wouldn't trade either of you for anything."_

_Kagome gave a goofy, sappy smile and put her arms around her mother's waist. "You really did love him, didn't you, Mama?" She pulled out of her embrace and looked her in the eye. "Did that never change? Is that why you never found anyone else?"_

_Keiko smiled. "Yes, I did love him very much and even though it didn't change, I came to accept the fact a long time ago that our feelings for one another were not as strong as they should have been and I wish him happiness and luck in this new marriage. I never looked for anyone else because I didn't see the need to. I was happy with you and Souta and your grandfather. Everything I needed was right here. It always has been and it always will be."_

_The younger girl smiled and then sighed, leaning forward so that she rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. "I guess it doesn't matter how much you love someone, you can't make them love you back and you can't make them stay. Why else would he just leave and not even write or call?"_

"_You were young, Kagome, so you probably don't remember. At that time, we didn't part on the best of terms. It was hard knowing that after all the work we'd put into it, our marriage just wasn't enough anymore. And your grandfather is still angry. When he left, he forbade Haruki from coming to the shrine again and very nearly disowned him," Keiko explained. "Your father was probably humiliated and ashamed and feeling guilty. He knew you idolized him and he knew you'd be crushed when he left. _

"_We were still young, Kagome, and naive. I told you before, Haruki wanted everything for you children. He wanted you to attend the best schools and have the best clothes and everything that money could buy. He left to accept a promotion that would enable him to do that, but I didn't want to take you kids away from Japan and our family and I wouldn't leave your grandfather here alone. _

"_Honey, it wasn't his leaving that caused our divorce and it wasn't you children. Even if he'd stayed, our marriage wouldn't have lasted much longer. It was better that he took a job he would enjoy instead of passing it up and having to make do with something he hated just so he could be miserable however long we were able to hold out. And this way he was able to pay for your school tuition and extracurricular activities and anything else you needed or wanted."_

She groaned and kicked the covers off of her, sitting up. She knew she had to come up with something. She'd been putting it off for to long already. If she was going to have the future she'd already mapped out for herself, then she was going to have to tell her father about the well, which meant that she'd have to trust him and she couldn't trust him if she didn't forgive him. If she wasn't willing or able to forgive him then she needed to stop dragging it out and send the jewel back to the Sengoku Jidai with Inuyasha so she could move on and...

_And be miserable for the rest of my life_, she thought, making a face in the dark. _Face it girl. Sango and the others played only a small part in your decision to live in Sengoku Jidai after graduation. Even if they weren't in the equation, you'd still chose the past over the present because of him. You're hopeless. You're in love...you're pathetic, that's what you are. You've planned your entire future around a guy. A guy who may not even feel the same way! Put any of the other girls in this situation and you'd tell 'em they were crazy. _

She slid her feet of the edge of the bed and stood, stretching. _Well, at least I'm not in denial, right?_

Buyo, curled up at the foot of her bed, lifted his head and watched her leave the room before giving a kitty yawn and settling back down. Kagome carefully climbed downstairs and to the kitchen, planning on getting a drink of water, but veered off course when she noticed the door to her brother's room was open and she looked in.

Souta had slept over at a friend's house that night and Inuyasha had the room to himself. Standing in the doorway, she took in the site before her. Moonlight filtered in through the bedroom window to the right of the twin sized bed and illuminated the darkness so that she could see the sleeping hanyou. He had one arm tucked under his head with the pillow between his arm and cheek and he was curled in almost a fetal position. His silky tresses drifted across the mattress, almost glittering in the light. Tetsuseiga was leaned against the bedside table for easy access and she grinned.

_At least he's not sleeping with it anymore._

She stepped quietly across the tatami mat and knelt beside the bed, studying his slumbering form with a soft smile. She loved watching him sleep because it was truly the only time that he looked really peaceful. The hard line of his jaw relaxed and his face took on a boyish quality, showing he wasn't nearly as old as people might sometimes think. Life and circumstance had been rough on him and he had needed to grow up quickly, but he was probably really only a year or two older than herself, if one didn't count the fifty years he was pinned to Goshinboku.

_Kagome frowned, looking miserable. "He took that job and left us because he felt a twisted sense of duty? Does duty always overpower the heart?"_

_A knowing look crossed Keiko's face and she nodded in understanding. "We're not just talking about Haruki anymore, are we? I thought the priestess had died?"_

"_She did. Before we ever finished the jewel."_

"_And Inuyasha is still here and you said yourself he told you he hadn't planned on going with her in the first place."_

_Kagome sighed audibly and stood up, crossing the small room. "He says that, but I don't know if he's just talking or if he really did mean it. What if he wants to be with her, even in death, and he's only staying here because he feels obligated towards me?" She shrugged, shaking her head. "He promised me once that he'd always protect me, but then he turned around and made the same promise to her, even promising that he'd do anything to avenge her, including go to hell with her. What am I supposed to believe? He's loved her for over fifty years and he's only known me for two."_

"_Her soul was already at peace and I think some part of her already knew that. Her only remorse was in wondering the earth as she was, not living and yet not dead." Keiko smiled. "From what I understand, Inuyasha doesn't take his promises lightly. Do you think he would have planned to break one, let alone admit it, if he hadn't been released from that promise already?" _

_Kagome blinked. She'd never considered it that way before, but her mother did have a point. She couldn't think of one time when he had broken his word. Sure, he usually always came to retrieve her a day or two early, but she never really made him swear to not do so. Except when she was taking her entrance exams and he had dutifully waited for exactly two weeks before coming to get her, showing amazing restraint on his part. She had been impressed._

"_He gave me his word, too. Did you know that?" When Kagome shook her head, furrowing her brow in curiosity, Keiko nodded. "He came early one day, while you were still in school, and Souta was home sick. I over heard him telling your brother about a few of the battles you'd fought against youkai and, naturally, I worried for your safety. I didn't tell him, of course, but I suppose it was obvious. He looked me straight in the eye and swore you'd always come home unharmed, no matter what."_

_Well that would explain why he always took it so personally whenever she did get injured or ill and why he always acted so guilty even when it wasn't his fault. _

"_And then he said," Keiko continued laughing now, "'I ain't gonna promise she'll be in a good mood when she gets here.'"_

Carefully she reached out and lifted away a few strands of hair that had fallen across his cheek and were obscuring her view. His eyebrow twitched, but he showed no signs of waking. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling and crossed her arms over his mattress, resting her chin on them. His other hand lay only a few inches from hers and she moved so that her hand lay over his.

_You don't know how truly beautiful you are, do you? I just don't understand why people can't look at you and see the same things I do. How can someone so caring and loyal be considered a monster or evil? If they only knew you, they'd understand…_She gave his hand a slight squeeze.

Golden eyes fluttered open and blinked at her, brows furrowing in confusion. "Kagome? What're you doing?" He glanced at their intertwined hands and she followed his gaze, blushing as she snatched her hand back.

"Sorry…I just couldn't sleep, that's all."

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and scowled. "And you decided to come wake me?"

Her blush deepened and she sat back on her heels. "No, I was going to get something to drink and your door was open…you looked so relaxed…I…" She stood up and tried to hide her face, blushing furiously. "Never mind. I'm going back to bed. Sorry I woke you. Goodnight, Inuyasha."

He was up and beside her in seconds, grabbing her wrist. "Wait, it's okay. You can stay…if you want." She let him lead her back towards the bed and sat next to him, with her back against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave a side long glance. "So, why're you walking around in the middle of the night?"

She shrugged. "Just couldn't sleep."

"Because?"

"Because I'm full of thoughts and I can't stop thinking," she answered simply and continued when he just stared at her. "I can't stop thinking about what my mom and I talked about this morning, about my dad and…and stuff." She averted her gaze from him, recalling how their talk had gone from Haruki to Inuyasha. "Just, you know, how I'm gonna tell him about the well and if I can forgive him. That sort of thing."

He nodded and they sat in silence for several moments before she turned and looked at him, expression filled with curious hope. "What would you do? What do you think I should do? I mean, _really_ think I should do and not some smart aleck answer like 'get your ass back down that well, wench.'"

He stared at her for a few moments, blinking. She had just asked his advice? _Him_? Honestly, he couldn't remember _anyone_ ever asking his advice on anything before. Whether they thought he wasn't smart enough to give good advice or just weren't interested in what he had to say, he didn't know, but the subject had never come up and it caught him off guard. "I dunno," he answered truthfully.

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A week passed before she finally came to a decision. Finally, that Friday, she did what she had to do. Her fingers nervously tapped on the phone's receiver as she stood looking at the paper in her hand with her dad's telephone number on it.

_You're being an idiot, Kagome,_ she mentally berated herself. _You faced all those youkai, but you don't have the guts to face your own father?_ She growled, the fleeting thought that she was spending too much time with the hanyou crossing her mind and picked up the phone dialing the number.

"Higarashi Haruki's office, how can I help you?" The voice on the phone was high pitched and annoyingly perky.

"Is Higarashi-san available, please?"

"No, miss, I'm sorry. He's in a meeting right now. May I leave a message or I can put you through to his voice mail?"

"His voice mail, please," Kagome requested, a sigh in her voice. Part of her was relieved to not have to talk to him at that moment. The other part had been hoping if she talked to him on the phone he'd do something to change her mind and she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

"One moment."

Kagome tapped her foot, feeling impatient. After a few seconds there was a _beep_ and her father's voice came over the line telling her to leave a name, number and short message and he'd get back to her. _Yeah, right._

"This is Kagome. I think you and I should talk. We need to work out where we stand with each other. If you're still looking for a second chance with me and Souta, meet me at the park tomorrow at noon so we can talk." She'd chosen the park because she could find a secluded area there to talk and she didn't want her grandfather having a fit if Haruki came back to the shrine.

With that said, she hung up and went to find Inuyasha before he got into any trouble.

She found him laid back on her bed with a magazine in his hands. She cleared her throat and waited while he looked up from his page. "Inuyasha, please don't read that."

"You do," he retorted. "I found it on your desk. I didn't have anything else to do."

She blushed and went to her desk, pulling out several school books. He didn't have anything else to do…but it was so embarrassing to that he was reading one of her girly magazines. There were things in there she definitely did not need him reading.

"Oi, Kagome?" She had been reading her history assignment for several minutes when he called her attention back to him. She didn't say anything, but he continued anyway. She was only half listening. "Do you have PMS?"

"Not at the moment," was her initial muttered response before his question actually sunk in. "What!" She whirled around in her desk chair to look at him, cheeks bright red with embarrassment. "No, I do not have PMS! What are you reading!"

Inuyasha ignored her outburst. "According to this book you do."

Her blush had crept to her ears and her neck. "I do not! You don't even know what that is!"

He snorted and glared at her. "I'm not stupid, Kagome, I know what it is. And I agree with this magazine. You do."

She groaned and had to bite her lip to keep from sitting him. Deciding it was safer to ignore him, she turned back to her book and started reading again. Several minutes of silence passed before she heard him shifting again.

"Oi, Kagome? What's a tampon?"

With a bang, her head hit the book she'd been reading and she tried hard not to scream. _He can't help it that he doesn't know. He can't help it. He can't help it…_Finally getting herself under control, she lifted her head and calmly turned towards him. "It's a product for women with PMS. Now, put down the book. I need to talk to you anyway."

He glanced at her and then shrugged, closing the magazine and tossing it aside. He waited patiently for her to continue. There were times that he was actually quite close to being a gentleman. Moments like this his attitude was different, his tough exterior wasn't so tough and she found him more civil.

"I called my dad and left a message for him to meet me in the park tomorrow at lunch. I'm gonna tell him all about the Sengoku Jidai, but I know he's not going to believe me," she explained. "I would really like you to come with me and I was hoping that you wouldn't mind me telling him what you are? I know he won't believe me but he should believe the two of us."

He nodded his agreement and she sighed with relief before turning back to her studies.

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Kagome sat on a swing in the park, waiting for her father. The section of the park they'd chosen was pretty much deserted. In the far distance she could see some people out walking, but not many. Inuyasha stood nearby, silently brooding. To preoccupy herself, she pushed herself slowly back and forth until Inuyasha decided he needed something to occupy his hands and came behind her, gently pushing her on the swing. She closed her eyes as she flew back and forth. It wasn't flying through the trees at unheard of speeds, but it was just as close and his hands gently pushing against her back every few seconds was a wonderful sensation.

All too soon, however, it came to an end when Inuyasha caught the swing's chains and brought her to a stop, growling slightly under his breath. "He's coming."

He was half an hour late, she realized when she glanced at her watch. _Didn't even care enough to be on time, did he?_

"Kagome." Haruki greeted her, looking darkly serious. "I know I'm late, but Ikoku's doctor had to reschedule and we just got back from having the ultrasound done. She's far enough along now to tell the sex of the baby. I had to be there."

She nodded understanding his excuse and, for the first time, forgiving him. "And what were the results?"

He smiled slightly, a look that took several years from his features and reminded the hanyou even more of Kagome's similarities to him. "She wanted to tell you herself, but I'll tell you if you act surprised. We're having a girl."

She was silent for a minute and then couldn't help the small grin that tugged at her features. When she'd first found out about Ikoku's pregnancy, she'd known she would never exclude the baby, her half sibling, from her life, but the reality of it never really sunk in.. "A sister…I'm going to have a baby sister…"

She was lost in thought for a moment and he took a seat on the swing next to hers. Inuyasha glanced at the two and then touched Kagome's shoulder, nodding his head towards a couple of trees a short distance away to indicate he'd be waiting over there.

Remembering why they were there, Kagome sighed and swung slightly, nervously. "I gave it a lot of thought and I realized that we're going to have to work something out and do it soon. We can't just keep at each other's throats." She looked at him from under her bangs. "It's hurting mama and Ikoku-chan. Souta's so confused he doesn't know what to feel. Jii-chan is still angry with you…Mama's just hurt, really." She paused and looked at the ground, scuffing her feet in the dirt. "And so am I."

He cleared his throat, not liking this conversation. "It's understandable. So, what do you suggest?"

She shrugged and folded her hands in her lap. "A truce. We won't have the same relationship we'd have had if you'd been a part of my life for all these years, but we still might be able to salvage something. There's some things we still have to work out, though. You were right…there are some things that I didn't understand. Mama filled me in...some. About Jii-chan and about the fights."

He had to admit that this was not going the way he had thought it would and he was glad of it. He had expected a flaming confrontation filled with harsh words and lots of yelling. He much preferred this. "Things wouldn't have been so bad, if I had done things differently," he admitted sheepishly. "I went about it the wrong way. I've gone about it the wrong way this time, too, I suppose. I wanted to force you into acceptance and I can't."

At that she smiled. Finally they were getting somewhere. Maybe she could have a relationship with her father now. She had already begun to admit to herself that she did miss him and in some small way she did really want to be daddy's little girl again - the same way she had been before his job got to be more important. She'd always wanted him back, else wise she wouldn't have tried so hard for so long to be a part of his life. Her smile fell though, when her first question came to mind. "I know Jii-chan told you not to come back and I know that Mama was angry, but if you really wanted us, why didn't you try?"

Haruki shook his head. "I was wrong. I made a mistake and it's one that I have to live with." He stood up and knelt beside her swing. "Kagome, I was young when I married your mother - practically just out of high school. I tried hard to balance work and family, but eventually I came to think that I needed to pay more attention to my work to be able to give my family what I thought they should have."

He touched her arm gently. "I know that you didn't understand, that you probably still don't understand. Your mother and I discussed it for weeks, but she wouldn't leave Dad. Now, I think that she made the right decision to stay here and keep you kids in Tokyo. If you had followed me, we would have been together, but Keiko wouldn't have happy and neither would you kids. I still wanted to provide for you, so I took the position and I sent plenty of money to your mother for your care."

Kagome blinked, the stark realization that he was right coming over her. She loved her life in Tokyo. She loved being with her grandfather and living at the shrine. If he _had_ taken them with him, she would have never fallen down the well and she would have never met Inuyasha or Miroku or Sango or Kaede. She would have never learned just how strong she really was or found her true path in life. By leaving them in Tokyo, he had actually done her a favor, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. "Jii-chan calmed down after a while and Mama wouldn't have kept you from us, so why didn't you visit or call or send for us"

He nodded. "Dad never spoke to me and neither did your mom. I didn't know what the situation was like back here, regarding me. I know you tried, but I didn't know if they'd even let me near you, so I stayed away. I honestly thought you were better off without me. That's why I didn't visit or bring you to me. Then, when I met Ikoku, I realized that I had been wrong and I wanted to start over. The company transferred me back to Tokyo and with a new family on the way, I had that chance. I want to start over. Can you give me that chance, Kagome?"

What did she want to do? This wasn't the conversation she had envisioned when she had called him to meet her. She had expected civility, but she had expected distance. She had not expected to want to be close to him again. Biting her lip, she debated within herself, her emotions warring in her heart. Even when Inuyasha was running off after Kikyo every few weeks had she not felt so torn.

Finally she nodded. "But first, there's something I gotta tell you...and you might want to sit down for this."

He sighed in relief and retreated back to the other swing while she stood, pacing in front of him and telling him everything that had gone on in her life over the past two years. She explained how she had fallen down the well on her fifteenth birthday, revived Inuyasha, broken the jewel and had a whirlwind of adventures with her feudal era friends.

Haruki, to his credit, listened patiently and quietly until she had finished her story. It had been elaborate and highly unbelievable. But he had listened. "And you and Inuyasha are…."

She blushed, shaking her head and holding her hands out to stop such suggestions. "We're not a couple. I've known him for two years and never once has he lied to me or broken a promise he made me. He's loyal and smart and strong and kind and he's a great roll model for Souta. If Souta takes after him even just a little bit, he'll be someone to be proud of."

Haruki bit back a smile. For someone who wasn't Inuyasha's girlfriend, his daughter sure acted like it. "So, you've saved the world, adopted a fox cub, and traveled time. And Inuyasha's name…it isn't Taishou Inuyasha?" No wonder he hadn't been able to find anything when he tried to research the boy. "It's a bit much to swallow, Kagome, you have to admit that."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know, but I've got proof. I've got Inuyasha." She turned to where the boy sat against a tree a few yards away. "Inuyasha?"

She smiled up at him when he appeared next to her. He still wore his modern clothes - a pair of dark wash jeans and dark green button up shirt, but when she called him over he had removed the green bandanna that covered his ears so that they stood up on his head, swiveling intently to pick up any suspicious sounds. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she slowly inched her hand up towards the nearest ear and scratched it lightly, drawing her father's attention to them and working the feeling back into them after being crushed for so long.

"Inuyasha is a hanyou," she explained again. "His father was the great tai youkai of what was once the Western Lands. His mother was a human princess in Musashi's domain." She smiled at her the boy who was now swatting her hand away from his head. "Need more proof? I'll bring Shippou for a visit soon and you can meet him."

Haruki stared at his daughter and the boy before him. It was hard to believe that she time traveled and fought youkai over some legend his father had been telling them for decades, but here she was with the true Shikon no Tama and a hanyou boyfriend.

But the truly amazing part was that she had opened up to him in a calm and collected manner. After their initial reunion, it was something he had not been expecting to happen. He had come to the conclusion his ill thought plans and following shame had ruined any chance he'd had of becoming a father to his eldest children. Not that he had accepted this conclusion. He had been prepared to battle it out, if need be, to be a part of their live.

"It's still hard to believe, but he's standing here in front of me…I can't dispute it." He shook his head. "I knew you were special, Kagome. That's why your mom and grandfather wanted to name you the way that they did."

Utter relief rushed through her veins and she sagged against Inuyasha having been terrified he'd try to stop her from doing what she wished to do. She'd invisioned him having her taken into custody and placed in a mental institution; having Inuyasha put in a lab; or having the evening news knocking on their shrine door to talk to the time traveler.

"Thank Kami!" She gripped Inuyasha's arm and tugged excitedly. "D'you hear that Inuyasha? I can go back!" She squealed happily, causing Inuyasha to lay his ears back against the noise and glare at her.

Haruki cleared his throat, as the conversation had come to a lull. "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what changed your mind? About me?"

Kagome blushed and looked away, using the toe of her shoe to make an arc in the dirt. "She's a forgiving person. _Too _forgiving, even if it takes her a while to get around to it," Inuyasha muttered. He knew just how forgiving the little miko was. Because of him she'd been put in situations where she'd nearly been killed. He'd made her cry more times than he could count and made her so mad that she wouldn't talk to him for three days. Yet, in the end, she had always come back and forgiven him, taken care of him when he was hurt, tried comfort him when he was upset, stood up for him. She'd given up a lot for him and had happily made him a part of her life, her family. Yeah, she was forgiving...even if the person didn't deserve it.

She shrugged. "What you did was stupid It was an awful, horrible, mean, idiotic thing to do and you were a bastard to do it, but people say and do stupid things sometimes," she answered finally with a glance at Inuyasha as if punctuating her last statement. "The fact is, though, that you were a good father before you left. When the baby's born, I think that you could be a good father again."

She looked up at him, her steel gray eyes meeting his dark blue ones. "Don't get the wrong idea, though. This isn't forgiveness, this is giving you the chance you asked for, the chance to _earn_ forgiveness. Mess it up and you won't get the chance again."

Haruki nodded once. "I can live with that. Shall we make it a deal then?" He held his hand out to her to shake.

She narrowed her eyes and glanced from his face to his hand and back. "How often do you back out of business deals?"

"Never."

She nodded and gripped his hand in hers, giving it a firm shake. "Deal."

With that done she sat back down in the swing she had vacated and pushed herself lightly. "I don't think I've been on a swing set since I was a little kid. I forgot how much fun it was."

Inuyasha snorted and went to sit down on the ground, his back leaned against the pole of the set but well enough out of the way not to get hit. "I don't see how. You ain't going anywhere."

Kagome giggled. "No, but it feels like I am. If you close your eyes and swing really high, it feels like you're flying."

"Keh. At least with me you were going somewhere. Besides, I can jump a lot higher than that swing can go." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her. She had gotten up a decent momentum, not going to high, but doing more than just swaying. When she would go forward her hair would lift from her back slightly and fall over her shoulder on the trip back.

"Geez, are you jealous. It's an inanimate object, Inuyasha, you don't have to compete with it." She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him when he glared at her. "So, Ikoku-chan and the baby were okay? Did the doctor say anything else besides that it's a girl?"

Haruki grinned at the two bickering teens and nodded. "He said they were both perfectly healthy. Any preferences for a name? Ikoku is gathering possible names from our families."

Kagome furrowed her brow in thought. "I like the name Sora. That has a nice sound to it, don't you think? Higarashi Sora" She glanced at Inuyasha. "Do you have any suggestions?" The look he gave her quite clearly expressed his answer. He did not want to be involved and thought she was crazy for asking. She sighed. "Hotaru is a pretty name too...Higarashi Hotaru."

Haruki was about to reply when his pocket started to buzz and he pulled out a PDA and frowned. "I have to go. I'm sure Ikoku would love to hear from you. Tell your mother and Souta that I said hello. You can tell Dad too, if he'll listen."

She had stopped swinging to say goodbye and, for an awkward moment, he bent to kiss her forehead. The motion was unfamiliar to both of them and Kagome sat completely still, looking straight ahead while he did so. When she was little he was always kissing her cheeks and forehead and if she fell and scraped her knee or got a cut or any other injury, he would kiss it to make it all better. She would sit in his lap at night, after dinner, and tell him a story from her day and then give him butterfly kisses with her lashes before going to bed. However, those days had been so long ago that it seemed they had forgotten how.

Yep, this whole father/daughter thing was going to take a while to get used to.


	12. Chapter 12

Note: A chapter where you just have to go "awwww" By the by, it's gonna start the two weeks after the end of the previous chapter, but by the next chapter, it'll be some months later. Got it? And for some reason, the site has stopped allowing me to put horizontal bars on my sections. This site hates me. I know it.

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**Scroll Twelve: Transitions**

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Sango stretched her aching muscles, popping her back and shoulders as she did so. They had finally started working on the house she and Miroku would call home. The good thing about living in the village (as well as being one of the rescuers of the Shikon no Tama) was that everyone who could, was willing to pitch in and help them build. It would have taken ages to complete their home if they would have had to do it themselves.

She untied the ribbon that held her hair back and gently ran her fingers through the tangled locks. Kaede had already retired and they were now preparing for bed as well. Smiling lightly, she looked down at the pink and red plaid pajamas that Kagome had given her before they had returned through the well. They were a lot more comfortable than wearing her kimono to bed (a necessity since she shared the common room of Kaede's hut with the monk, fiancé or not).

Miroku shook out his bed mat and laid it on the floor, glancing over at the taijiya who had been watching him. He grinned and gave her a playful wink, successfully earning a blush from her while she pointedly looked in the other direction. Chuckling, he tossed a feather pillow at her (another gift from Kagome) and dropped his own on the floor.

She jumped when the soft mound of down feathers hit her shoulder and made a face at the monk. With Shippou already asleep, nestled up to Kirara, and Kaede in her own room, she was more comfortable being playful with him. Much like Inuyasha, she preferred to not have an audience if she let her guard down.

"If you get cold, you are welcome to come share my blanket," he offered, eyes glittering with mischievousness. Of course, the chances of her becoming cold were slim seeing as the weather was still considerably warm. So much so that they had extinguished the fire after dinner because the hut had become too hot.

"We aren't married yet, Houshi." She lay back and covered herself with a light blanket. "No dessert before the main course, as Kagome would say."

"I wouldn't dream of it, my dear." He chuckled again and closed his eyes only to open them again a few minutes later when he heard someone moving around. He sat up and looked to find Sango kneeling beside him with her blanket over one arm and her pillow tucked under the other.

"Is everything okay?" He frowned curiously at the way she was looking at him.

Nodding her head once, quickly as if coming to a decision, she laid her pillow next to his and sat, spreading her blanket over her legs. "If your hands stray _anywhere_ that they shouldn't, this won't happen again until after we're married, got it?"

He held his hands up in surrender. "You have my word." Leaning forward he kissed the tip of her nose and then gently took her mouth in a short, chaste kiss. "Goodnight, Sango."

She felt a shiver run down her spine and smiled slightly as she lay next to him. She loved it when he did that...

When Kaede entered the common room the next morning, she found a kitsune cub and a neko sitting in shocked silence at the foot of the couple's bed. Though they had started out under their own blankets, lying next to each other but not touching, sometime during the night, Sango had edged closer to Miroku and he had put his arm around her so that her head lay on his shoulder as she curled at his side.

The old miko put a finger to her lips and motioned for the two demons to go outside. Certainly the young couple would not want to be discovered like this and she had no desire to cause them embarrassment when they were actually getting along.

Seeing the child and his companion out the door, she returned to her room and prepared to come out again, this time making more noise than necessary.

The two young adults sat up quickly and the taijiya crawled away from the monk, a blistering blush painting her cheeks scarlet.

Kaede cackled and gave them both a knowing look. "Did you sleep well?"

"Amazingly so, Kaede-sama," Miroku answered, his lecherous expression focused on Sango who glared at him and stood. Moments later he was nursing a nasty bump on his head and Sango was gone to bathe before breakfast.

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"I can't believe it." Eri shook her head as she and Kagome walked towards the shrine from the high school. They had a biology test the next day and the two of them planned to pull a late night study session, cramming for it. "You actually forgave him? After all he did?"

"I didn't forgive him - not yet," Kagome repeated for the umpteenth time. "I just gave him the chance to redeem himself and made our relationship more civil." She hugged her notebook to her chest. "Just so we're not screaming at each other all the time."

The other girl shook her head again. "Geez, Kagome, you've got to be the nicest person I know. How do you keep people from walking all over you?"

Kagome glared at her. "I beg your pardon? Just what are you talking about?"

Her friend rolled her eyes towards the heavens. "Do I have to spell it out? First there was the two timing boyfriend who kept dumping you for his ex -"

"You know that was Inuyasha and you know it wasn't like that. I told all of you the whole truth months ago."

She earned a glare for having interrupted Eri's speech. The short haired girl continued without comment. " - who kept dumping you for his ex girlfriend. Not only that, but he was constantly berating you and violent towards others and wild. Yeah, we know the truth now, but we didn't then and we all thought you were insane to keep going back to him. Once forgiven is one thing, but every other week is something else completely. Then there's the wolf that kidnaped you and tried to force you to be his mate -"

Kagome blushed, but managed to make a face at her. "Kouga only did that because I could see the Shikon Shards and he needed me to spot the shards to save his pack from the Birds of Paradise. And the whole mate thing was because he wanted to use me as a shard detector."

Eri waved her hand towards her. "See? That's what I'm talking about! He wanted to _use_ you Kagome. And you act like it was nothing."

"Well it's not like I was actually going to go along with him! I mean, his attention was sweet and all, but I wouldn't even let _Inuyasha_ use me as just a shard detector. I wasn't about to let Kouga do it." Her face was bright red by this time.

"That's not the point, Kagome. The point is that those are things that most people would have a really hard time forgiving. You're not most people, I know, but you have to admit what your pop did was worse than that."

Kagome sighed, shoulder sagging. "I had to do it, Eri-chan. If I didn't, how would I have been any better than him? I tried for years to get him to be a part of my life, you know that. Now that he's trying, if I shut him out, I'd be doing exactly what he did to me and Souta for all that time. I'm better than that, Eri-chan. I'm above that."

Defeated, Eri sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. _I_ wouldn't have been able to do it, but I guess that's what makes you so special. Oh! Are we still on for that double next weekend? You said you'd talk to Inuyasha about going to dinner with me and Ryu-chan, remember? Ryu really wants to meet him."

Kagome grimaced, having forgotten about the double date invitation. She'd been so distracted that she'd neglected to give the information to Inuyasha and attempt to talk him into it. But Eri was looking forward to it and it _would_ be fun...

"Don't worry, we'll be there."

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"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Inuyasha mumbled as Kagome dug through the chest that held his modern clothes. Souta had generously given up a small piece of his own closet space to house the hanyou's attire since her own closet was overflowing as it was. "She's gonna be the _only_ one there, right?"

Kagome giggled and shook out a pair of black slacks to rid them of a few wrinkles. "I promise Inuyasha, it's just going to be the two of us, Eri-chan and her fiancé, Ryu-kun." She set the pants on the bed and managed to pull out a brand new, white dress shirt. The top was still wrapped in its package and she tossed it on the bed too. "Did we buy you any belts? You need a belt…I know I can't make you wear a tie, but you really should have a belt…"

Inuyasha ignored her mumbling and crossed his arms. He gave the clothing on the bed a skeptical look and scowled slightly. She was picking out the most uncomfortable of the clothes she'd bought. "And this Ryu is a dragon youkai?"

"Partial…aha!" She squealed in delight upon finding her brother's stash of belts and dug through them until she found a few that were large enough for Inuyasha. Picking out a black one she threw the rest back in the drawer. "He's got less youkai in him than you do. You're a half daemon so I'd say he's about an eighth or so."

She tossed the belt with the rest of the clothes and slipped past him. "Ryu-kun is taking us to a fancy restaurant so please wear the clothes that I picked out?"

"Feh, whatever."

"Inuyasha…"

"I'm gonna wear the stupid clothes, okay? Just get outta here so I can change." He motioned to the door with an irritated expression and waited for her to close the door behind her.

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Kagome shut her door behind her and unwrapped her hair, using the towel to further dry the curling strands. She'd just gotten out of the shower and was about to get ready for dinner that night.

When Eri had first suggested a double date between herself and Ryu and Kagome and Inuyasha, she had been a bit nervous. This had been because she feared Inuyasha would refuse. Despite his rearing in Sengoku Jidai and relative newness to her era, he adjusted to the change well and seemed rather comfortable on the streets…For the most part. He occasionally found things that he considered gush worthy, like the time she had taken him grocery shopping and he had been awed at the fact that so much food was available in one place. It was fun to see that look of wonder and amazement in his eyes.

Smiling to herself, she took a brush and started combing the knots out of her hair. Another thing about him being on her side of the well was that he could relax and let is guard down. When they were in the feudal era, he had to be constantly alert and wary of danger. There was hardly a day that went by that they weren't fighting some demon or another. On top of that, few people outside of Kaede's village accepted a hanyou. On her side of the well his biggest threat was her friends and their questions.

Swift fingers parted her hair and wrapped the separated strands around a hot iron to give them a more defined curl. Spraying them with a tad of hair spray so that the curls would hold, she bound her hair in a tail just behind her right ear. As a finishing touch, she pulled the hair over her shoulder and attached a silk red flower to the band.

Looking around her desk she found her make up kit and gave it a thoughtful look. She never wore much, but a little highlight here and there wouldn't hurt. That decided, she applied a hint of eyeliner and light blue shadow, rouge and a shimmering gloss.

_I love going out…it gives me an excuse to dress up,_ she thought with a grin and pulled tonight's dress out of the closet.

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"To the left nii-chan, the left!" Souta exclaimed excitedly as he leaned over Inuyasha's shoulder. "You gotta shoot at him!"

"I am shooting, damnit! The bastard just won't die!" Inuyasha growled and punched the buttons of his controller with more strength. "Take that ya piece of shit."

Kagome cleared her throat, standing in the living room doorway. Her hands were on her hips and she sent a venomous glare at the victorious hanyou. "Watch how you speak around my brother. The last thing I need is another _you_ running around."

Both boys looked around and stared, mouths agape. Even the 'death music' from the television wasn't able to draw their attention away from her and she silently smirked.

Tear drop shaped opals hung from her ears. Her dress was a blood red halter dress, 40's styled, with a swoop back that swooped to her waist. The skirt pleated and billowed out slightly, the hem coming to her knees. The vee cut of the neck managed to hide and expose at the same time, showing the barest hint of cleavage but certainly not enough to be considered indecent. On her feet were red heels.

"Wow, nee-chan…you look…wow…" Her brother fumbled for words. He'd never seen her this dressed up in his life. Usually the clothes she wore reflected her age, but in this outfit she looked older and more mature.

Inuyasha blinked, pulled out of his stupor as a blush formed over his nose and cheeks. "Yeah…he…uh…yeah…" Stumbling to his feet he looked away from her, his eyes drifting to the television though they didn't really see the screen. "Yeah, well, I guess we better get going, huh?"

She smiled brightly, appreciating the silent compliments their looks had given. "You're right. I took longer than I thought and now Eri-chan's going to be waiting. I hope they made our reservations…"

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They met Ryu and Eri in front of _Chez Rouge_, arriving exactly on time after a hurried bus trip to the Shinigawa district. Hitomi Ryu was a handsome man, Kagome had to admit, with his odd looks. His hair was a rusty red, several shades darker than Shippou, and he had bright blue eyes that sparkled when he laughed. A row of three small, silver hoop earrings dangled from one ear and she could just see the nose of his dragon tattoo peeking from above his shirt collar. When she'd first met him, she hadn't been able to believe he and Eri had anything in common.

The couples bowed to one another and the girls squealed over the other's outfits before introductions were finally made.

"And here I was thinking on the pure ones were gone," Ryu commented as he opened the door and held it for the rest of them. "I guess you got lucky, huh?" He had been told that Inuyasha was a hanyou, but Eri had promised not to tell about his being from Sengoku Jidai unless Kagome or Inuyasha wanted to do so themselves.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess." The hanyou answered with a shrug. He didn't necessarily see it that way, but realized that things were different in Kagome's time and, obviously, the rift between human and youkai was not as large as it was in his time. "Lucky?"

Ryu was nodding. "Yeah, someone like you would have abilities several times better than someone like me, right? I mean, like, my great grandfather five times removed, was a fire dragon youkai. The youki gets diluted every generation so my dad's abilities are slightly better than mine, but my visions slightly better than most people and my hearings a bit more acute and I'm just a bit stronger. You must be like Superman or something."

Eri and Kagome walked ahead of them, going to the Matre'd's stand and inquiring about their reservations. While he found a waiter to have them seated, Kagome looked over her shoulder at the two guys.

"You know, I've come to expect hero worship from Souta, but I thought Ryu would be above that." She grinned as Eri giggled.

"When I told him that Inuyasha was hanyou, he looked like a kid on Christmas morning," Eri informed her. "He said that his family was always just like whatever when it came to their magical heritage, but he thought it was...what were his words...oh, 'fucking awesome'."

"And you all used to think Inuyasha was a punk," Kagome teased giving the boys a sideways glance. "What would you call Ryu?"

Eri followed her gaze and then smiled mischievously. "A work in progress."

When the two guys realized their partners were giggling at _them_ they gave similar looks of scowling contempt and grumbled about women under their breath, quietly agreeing with one another. The girls took their hands as the waitress came and showed them to their table.

Their table was a booth in a corner by the front window. Inuyasha and Kagome took one side while Ryu and Eri took the other. Though Inuyasha opened a menu to look over, reading it proved nearly impossible. Less than half of the words were in legible katakana/hiragana and the rest were foreign words he couldn't read.

Eri made a face, looking over her own menu. "I can't even pronounce half this stuff," she said rolling her eyes. "Why can't they just call it clam soup or grilled steak?"

"Because these names are prettier." Kagome answered, grinning. "You have to admit escargot and caviar sounds a lot more appetizing than snails and fish eggs. Though, I don't see how anyone could eat them even with the trumped up name." She and Eri both shivered in disgust.

"May I get you something to drink?" A male waiter with gray hair, pulled back into a ponytail and a starched tuxedo that looked like it had been ironed while one his body approached their table and offered a tight smile. "The house wines tonight are a stiff Cabernet, Pino Griggio and 1893 Chantilly."

In a moment of splurging spontaneity, they ordered a bottle of Chantilly for the table and drank it with their meals. By the time they finally left, Kagome figured the staff of _Chez Rouge _were only minutes from kicking them out. The Chantilly was gone by the end of the meal and at least two of the group members were feeling the affects. Never having been a drinker except for a couple sips during a ceremony or a glass from a store-bought bottle at a friend's party, Kagome wasn't all that great at holding her alcohol. While she wasn't drunk, she was feeling rather relaxed.

Eri, on the other hand, was smashed. It seemed her tolerance was even lower than Kagome's while Ryu seemed to be able to toss back an entire bottle without a seeing a single side affect. Inuyasha had felt a little more relaxed while in the restaurant, but as soon as they were on the streets, his defenses went back to normal and he was as alert as ever.

By the time they'd arrived back at the shrine, Kagome had taken her shoes off and was being carried, bridal style, up the shrine steps. When he put her down at the front door she yawned and smiled at him, touching his cheek with her hand. "Thank you."

Somewhere in her mind she knew that it would have been the perfect time to tell him the truth; that somewhere along the way, she'd fallen in love with him. It was quiet, dark, they were alone, and if worse came to worse, she could always blame her actions on the wine later. ut the words died on her tongue and the opportunity slipped through her fingers.

"Kagome? Is that you?"

She smiled again and then turned away from the hanyou, sliding the door open and stepping int the house. "It's us, Jii-chan. We just got home."

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Kagome hadn't ben the only one who regretted allowing such a perfect opportunity slip away. Even after two weeks, a certain hanyou was still mentally scolding himself for not speaking.

"Higarashi-sama?" Inuyasha called uncertainly as he slid the door closed behind him. The first week after their dinner he had spent most of his time hanging out with Ryu while Kagome was in school. He'd spent the past week in Sengoku Jidai returning only to get Kagome since she was back to spending the weekends on his side of the well.

"I'm in here, dear," she answered. When she saw him come in, she smiled. Over the years he had become like her own child and she felt the same motherly devotion for the hanyou that she felt for Souta and Kagome. "Would you like some chocolate chip cookies? They're fresh out of the oven and there's milk in the refrigerator." She was currently spooning more dough out of a bowl into a pan.

He eyed the cookies and considered postponing this conversation while he feasted, but his nerves had his stomach tied in knots. "No, thanks." He sat at the table, stuffing his hands in the sleeves of his haori in his usual posture. "I…I wanted to talk to you…without Kagome…about something…about someone, actually…it's kinda about Kagome…"

She had bent to put the pan in the oven and stood, turning to face him, taking in his sullen expression. "Nothing bad, I hope?"

"Probably." He grew even sulkier. "Most people would think so, anyway…"

"Oh dear." She wiped her hands on a dish towel and took a seat across from him. "Well, let's have it."

"It's just…I mean…I needed to ask…" He muttered a few curses under his breath and looked away. A light blush tinted his cheeks and he fell silent.

After a few moments Keiko realized he wasn't going to continue and smiled gently. "You've been spending quite a bit of time with Ryu-kun. The two of you have become friends?"

He gave her a sideways glance, his shoulders relaxing in relief as she easily shifted the conversation. Know he knew where Kagome got it from. "Yeah, I guess."

"So, the two of you have been hanging out. Doing what? Kagome said you've been rather secretive lately…More than usual." She smiled gently, trying to ease him on.

"He's been showing me around…teaching me the customs of this era, stuff like that." His back was straight and he'd gone stiff again, looking at the wall behind her. He'd admitted the truth to Ryu the day after their dinner. Or, rather, Kagome had given Eri the okay to tell him.

"What sort of customs?"

"Marriage customs." The growled answer was barely loud enough for Keiko to catch.

The older woman nodded in understanding. She had assumed the situation would arise eventually. Kagome and Inuyasha had been together for a long time and it was obvious that he felt something towards her daughter.

"I think I understand what you wanted to ask me, Inuyasha," she told him gently. "You wish to ask me if you can marry Kagome."

He nodded in confirmation, but didn't look at her. "I know you're supposed to ask the girl's father, but I figured it'd be better to ask you since he's not really been around."

Keiko stood and shifted positions so that she was sitting in front of Inuyasha, on his side of the table. "You've been traveling the well to this era for quite some time and you have become like a member of our family. I have always thought of you as one of my own children and I would be proud to call you my son."

She touched his arm and gave him a loving smile. "Kagome loves you very much and I know that if you were to ask her, she would marry you in a heartbeat. She wants to be with you more than anything in the world."

Keiko leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a light embrace. "You have my blessing," she told him quietly and then pulled away.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"Inuyasha, I am a sword smith, not a silver smith. I make swords. I do not make jewelry." Totousai huffed and went back to poking his fire. "Find yourself another demon."

"Ah, come on jijii, how hard can it be?" The hanyou growled angrily.

"What do they have to look like?"

Inuyasha held out his smallest finger. "Two have to be that size. One of them is just a band with this in it." He tossed the youkai a blue stone. "The other should just be a simple band. The third should look like the second, but big enough to fit this finger."

The old man stood and looked at Inuyasha's hand with furrowed brows. "Alright. I'll see what I an do. Where'd you get that stone?"

The half daemon smirked. "Myouga got it for me. I didn't ask and he didn't tell."

"Come back in a week. I may have the first two ready for you to look at."

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

To: ...er...  
Regarding: Scroll 5, Predictions

Hmmm...when did the sealing off of Japan take place? I can't remember...I know they sealed it off because they didn't want so many Westerners coming in and corrupting their culture with their Western influences. But prior to that there were people going there. Of course, we're never given an exact year that _Inuyasha_ takes place in either. I'd just watched an episode of _Samurai Champloo _when I wrote that where a guy from...Switzerland or Sweden...or maybe Germany...anyway, where a guy was in the village at an eating contest and he was running from the authorities because he turned out to be a prince or a duke or something running from his responsibility. And I was channeling _The 10th Kingdom_.


	13. Chapter 13

**Scroll Thirteen: Vows**

Winter came and went without much deviation from what had become routine. Kagome continued to go to school every day and spend her weekends in Sengoku Jidai, learning the things that she would need to know when she became the village miko. Inuyasha spent about as much time in her era as he did in his own and continued to go on 'dates' with Kagome. She and her friends dragged him along on doubles and to carnivals and various other events with their significant others. Though he still complained, he was beginning to not mind so much.

In Sengoku Jidai, construction on the house Miroku and Sango would inhabit was nearly complete. Though she couldn't afford to bring real glass to plate their windows, Kagome did bring plexiglass as a wedding gift to help insulate the house which had three separate rooms: the main room, a bedroom for Sango and Miroku, and a larger room on the opposite side of the main room where the children would sleep. The monk had insisted on a larger children's bedroom to house the ten or twelve kids Sango had promised to give him when he'd first proposed several years before.

As soon as the house was complete, the two planned to have a small ceremony, presided over by Mushin, the monk who had raised Miroku. It would only be their friends present and would take place at Kaede's village. Hachi had agreed to transport the elderly monk to and from his monastery.

That January, as a belated Christmas present, Kagome's little sister, Higarashi Hotaru, was brought into the world and Kagome was playing the part of proud sibling. The little girl's birth had certainly been a starting point on the bridge between father and son as Souta began to spend more time Ikoku and Haruki in order to visit the child, determined to be a good and honorable big brother. The bridge between herself and her father was still a tattered rope bridge, unsteady and dangerous, but the construction for a sturdier one had already begun.

By February, the house was completed and Mika and her mother had finished sewing the kimono Sango would wear for the wedding. When they showed it to the two girls, both nearly fell out at the beauty of it. The silk was a pale blue from the shoulders to the obi and littered with tiny snowflakes that cascaded down from the collar to the bottom hem. The bottom half was a snow covered forest glen with a frozen brook that ran from the left side around to the front and disappeared off the hemline. The pattern continued on the sleeves so that when she stood, the sleeves fell over her hands and didn't seem to break the picture. There was also a white and sky blue under kimono.

As Kagome helped her dress for the wedding, Sango fingered the silk carefully. "It's beautiful, but its much too extravagant," she said softly. "I'll never be able to wear it again."

Kagome laughed and combed through her friend's hair, working it into a loose bun. "That's the point of the bride's dress, at least in my time. I know you think it was a waste of money, but look at it this way, you'll have it if you need it and you can put it up so that when you have a daughter and she gets married, you can give it to her to wear."

"I suppose so." She ducked her head so that Kagome could stick a hair decoration into her bun. It was a silver chopstick with a curtain of dangling white crystals that cascaded over the left side of her head. Kagome had found it when she went through her mother's kimono collection looking for a ceremonial robe to wear to Kikyou's funeral and had borrowed it for the wedding.

Her own outfit was a champagne colored dress with a pleated skirt that hung to her knees. The dress was satin and sleeveless, but she'd matched it with a champagne cashmere shrug held closed by a citrine crystal broach in the shape of a butterfly. Cream colored Mary-Jane flats covered her feet, but the flesh-tone stockings she wore did little to shield her legs from the winter weather. At least the wedding would be taking place inside the main room of the couples new home and she only had to suffer the walk from Kaede's to Sango's.

She'd considered wearing one of the fancy kimono from her mother's collection and decided against it since she wouldn't be participating in the wedding but was simply a guest. She preferred her modern clothes even though the kimono were beautiful.

There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, but the weather hadn't been as bad as it might have been. The heat-wave from the summer seemed to have had an affect on their winter season as well. However, Kagome was not complaining. Though she loved snow and New Years and Christmas, she did not like the cold.

The wedding was a small affair and as soon as it was done, the procession returned to Kaede's for a celebration dinner. When Kagome told her about the wedding, Ikoku had offered to make a wedding cake and her mother had helped her make sandwiches, egg rolls, and soup (kept warm in a travel cooker). She'd also brought extra ramen for Inuyasha to have with his meal. Mushin was the only one who had a complaint with the meal and that was solved when he pulled a small jug of sake from his robes and filled everyone's cup.

All in all, it had been a delightful afternoon.

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By the time Kagome returned to the well, the sun had already set and stars glittered in a clear night sky. She walked a slow and leisurely pace despite the chilly breeze nipping at her legs and reached out a gloved hand to clasp Inuyasha's. He'd insisted on escorting her since it was dark and she did still wear the completed Shikon no Tama around her neck. She hadn't a clue how to purify it without making a wish and anything she came up with could have been misconstrued and caused the stone to become tainted again.

"You still plan to live here after you finish that school?" He asked glancing down at her from the corner of his eye.

She nodded. "It won't be long either. I'll graduate in May and then I can start moving my stuff to this side of the well and take full time lessons from Kaede. It'll be a lot easier then."

He gave a barely distinguishable nod. "You'll need a hut, then," he muttered, seemingly to himself.

"For what?" She wondered, tilting her head up to look at him curiously. "I was going to stay with Kaede. She's got plenty of room for the three of us. She always has."

He growled and let go of her hand, stuffing his hands into the sleeves of his haori in his signature stance. "I shoulda known," he grumbled, turning his head away. "That ain't what I was talkin' about."

Kagome frowned, not understanding what had made him so angry. "You said I'd need a house and I said I was living with Kaede, like we've always done. If not that, what were you talking about, then?"

He growled, covering embarrassment with anger as was typical with him. "I was gonna build you one, baka." Even in the dark she could see the light hue of pink that spread across his cheeks as he said it.

"But I -" The words seemed to fall, dying on her lips as something clicked on in her brain. Maybe it was the two cups of sake or the cold or, most likely, the fact that it was coming from Inuyasha that kept her from realizing just what he was saying exactly, but the moment she _did_ figure it out, her eyes lit up with excitement.

Things were different in his era. Miroku and Sango could have had their wedding anytime during the construction of the house, but he'd said he couldn't marry her until he had a home to put her in. A home he build for Sango.

Just like Inuyasha was saying he would build for _her_.

She took a steadying breath. "Inuyasha, are you saying...you and me...a home for us?"

"Here." She found his hand held in front of her face with something clutched between two fingers, so close to her nose she had to cross her eyes to look at it. It appeared to be a ring. She reached up and took it from his hand, turning to examine it in the moonlight.

"Inuyasha, it's gorgeous," she breathed. The ring was a thin band of silver with leaves etched into the outside and a glistening blue stone held on top by three prongs. Inside, she could just make out the inscription in the pale light. _Love_. "Did you buy this while you were out with Ryu?" That would explain how he knew the purpose of an engagement ring, since that seemed to be what he was asking her. Of course, that only raised the question of how he paid for it...

"Toutousai had a friend of his make it." He was still turned with his side to her, not really looking at her.

Nodding and still in complete shock, Kagome pulled the glove off and handed the ring back to him with her bare hand. He glanced from it to her, a melancholy look beginning to come over him. "When a guy asks a girl to marry him and she says yes, then he's supposed to put the ring on her finger," she explained softly. "If that's what you're asking, then the answer is yes."

As soon as he slid the tiny band over her finger, she launched herself into his chest, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "I love you, Inuyasha," she whispered, forcing back tears.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

His answer was to bring his arms around her in a tight hold and capture her mouth in a heated kiss.

"Higarashi Haruki's office, how may I help you?" The secretary sounded much too perky.

Kagome cleared her throat, willing herself to speak with a clear, commanding voice. "This is Higarashi Kagome, Haruki's daughter. I need to speak with him for a moment, please."

The secretary hesitated for a moment and Kagome could hear some papers being shuffled around. "Just one moment, let me see if he's available, Kagome-san." There was a _beep_ and then silence.

Moments later the same perky voice came back on the line. "Higarashi-san is in an important business meeting at the moment. Is there a number where he can reach you, Kagome-san?"

Kagome made a face, glaring at the wall in front of her. "If you would slip a little note into the room saying that his daughter is on the phone and it's kind of important, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to take my call."

The woman stuttered on the other end and more papers were being shuffled. "Alright, Kagome-san. I'll be right back. Let me knock on his door and see what I can do." There was another _beep_ and silence for several minutes before someone picked up.

"Kagome, I'm in a meeting right now. Leave your mother's telephone number with Reika and I'll call you when I get out." Her father's voice was hushed and more than a little peeved.

Not that she cared. She smiled a sweet and sadistic smile and, though he couldn't see it, he could hear it in her voce. "Look, what I need to talk to you about won't take but a minute if you'd just let me talk."

"By all means."

"I'm getting married, Dad."

"Married! To whom!" The startled exclamation caused a ruckus in the background. She supposed the other voices belonged to the people he was meeting with.

"Who do you think? Inuyasha, of course. He asked Mama if he could ask me and she said yes. It took him a while, be he finally worked up the nerve to ask_ me_ and I said yes." She couldn't help the happy little sigh in her voice.

"You're gonna marry Inuyasha?" His voice had dropped to a harsh whisper. "The _hanyou_?"

Kagome growled loud enough for him to hear. "Yes, the hanyou. What's wrong with that? I love him and he's a good person. What I need from you is for you to use some of your contacts and secure some official documents on Inuyasha. Things like a birth certificate, high school graduation diploma, anything that we might need to get the wedding done and a marriage license."

"Why?" He asked curiously. "They had different customs then, no ceremonies…just living arrangements, right?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Hai, they did, but Inuyasha and I are getting married in a ceremony here with a license and everything because when we have children I want them to be born in this era - it's safer for me and the baby and I want them to have birth records and I want them to go to school here. We'll be living in both eras."

Haruki muttered an agreement, seeing her point. "How do you expect me to procure these documents?"

Kagome smiled mischievously. "You're a high powered business man. You know a lot of people with high up jobs - people who probably owe you a favor or two. Pull some strings. Call in some favors. I don't care, just get the papers."

He sighed and she could hear him finding some paper. "Alright, what's his full name."

"We've been calling him Taishou Inuyasha, so that should be it."

"Age?"

She made a face. "Umm...relatively nineteen years old and his birthday is around February 10."

"Relatively? Around? Doesn't he know?" Haruki sounded skeptical and Kagome sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Dad, he's from another era! Their calendars weren't the same as ours and from what he knows and I can figure, that's close to his birthday. He was on his own for a long time _and_ he was sealed to a tree for fifty years so I'm saying he's probably nineteen...or close to it."

"Alright, you're the one who knows the best," Haruki relented. "Mother and father's names?"

"His father's name was Inuki and we're giving him the Taishou name since he was tai youkai. His mother's name was Fieori Iyazoi. Both are deceased."

"I also need to know where you want him to have been born and gone to school, his hair and eye color."

Kagome scrunched up her face in thought. "I don't care what city you have him being born in and going to school in so long as you can come up with some records. His hair is silver, you know, and his eyes are golden…amber."

There was a pause on the other end as he wrote down all that information. "I'll see what I can do."

"Great." With that she hung up the phone and went to her room to get cleaned up for dinner, feeling quite pleased with herself.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"What kind of wedding are you planning to have, Kagome?" Yuka questioned excitedly from where they sat in the family room. Her gradfather was flipping through the news stations nearby.

Kagome tapped her chin. "I don't know yet."

"If you have a western styled wedding," Eri put in, "you and me could have a double wedding. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Yeah, it really would."

"She'll be having a Shinto ceremony," her grandfather piped up, looking over his shoulder at the girls. "It'll be a traditional Shinto ceremony or no ceremony at all."

"Jii-chan…" Kagome grumbled, fixing him with one of her best 'stay out of it' glares.

The old man ignored her. "Don't Jii-chan me, young lady. You'd better concentrate on your part of the rituals instead of some foreign get up."

"But Higarashi-Jii-san, it would be much easier and less expensive for Kagome to have a western wedding like mine." Eri sat up from where she'd been lying on her stomach and brushed her hair out of her face. Yuka was nodding in agreement, having already decided that if Sanjay was to ever propose to her, she would certainly have a western wedding.

The old priest was not going to be budged, however. "Kagome is a miko. She comes from a long line of Shinto priests and priestesses. She lives in a Shinto shrine and she will most certainly have a traditional Shinto ceremony whatever the cost."

Kagome sighed. Well, that was that.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"Oh, you worry to much, Sango-chan," Kagome chastised as she climbed up the ladder to the inside of the well house. "I know how dissatisfied you were with my wardrobe when you were here before."

Sango blushed as she joined her friend at the mouth of the well and headed for the stairs out into the shrine courtyard. "No, I think that your clothes are perfectly suited for you. It's just that I'm not used to being so…exposed. Even in my taijiya fuku I'm covered."

Kagome giggled as she slid the door open and blinked against the sunlight. "Which is why I made sure you had something you could be comfortable in."

She grabbed Sango's wrist and tugged her towards the house calling a quick hello to her grandfather as he swept by the Goshinboku. She couldn't help but continue to smile, her excess energy and excitement bubbling up as she quickened her pace towards the door. "Mama! I'm home!"

Keiko came out of Souta's room with a basket of clothes in her hands. "Afternoon dear. Welcome back, Sango. It's nice to see you again." She smiled at the younger girl who bowed to her. "Eri called this morning, Kagome. She wanted to make sure you were meeting her and the girls at six tonight."

Her daughter nodded and grabbed a folded pair of pants from the top of her mother's clothes basket then tugged Sango's hand again, dragging her towards the stairs. "I'll call her as soon as I show Sango what we found for her. Thanks Mama!"

Sango came to a stop at Kagome's bedroom and practically fell onto the girl's bed. She had never seen her friend so excited about anything as she was about this party tonight. The younger girl had practically been bouncing off of the walls all morning. Her concentration was completely shattered and Kaede had finally sighed and dismissed her from her lessons. That had been when Kagome had gone to remind Inuyasha she'd be gone all night and practically threw Sango down the well with her.

When Kagome had first come to her and asked her to be a part of the bridal party, Sango had been tempted to decline. She was not exactly comfortable in Kagome's era. At least, not the way that Inuyasha had been. He had strolled through the crowded streets that day as if he had lived there his entire life. In fact, he had been more comfortable there, it seemed, than he ever was walking through the paths of Sengoku Jidai.

Still, despite her initial uncertainty, Kagome's enthusiasm had rubbed off and she had found herself excited as well. This entire thing was a new experience for her and something she felt she should experience with an open mind. This was what her world would one day become, long after she was gone, and she was getting a forward glimpse.

Kagome was rummaging through her closet and dresser drawers, piling clothes over her arm before turning back to the now curious taijiya. "I found a few things I thought you might be more comfortable in."

She tossed them on the bed piece by piece, revealing several outfits for the girl to choose from. There was a pair of blue jeans, a pair of khaki crop pants and a denim calf length skirt. To go with them was a long sleeved black shirt decorated with a heart and the kanji for "Heartbreaker" in pink glitter; a white tank with a long-sleeved, hunter green shrug; and a short-sleeved blue, button up blouse. Each was made to cover a modest amount of skin so that Sango would not be overly exposed.

Sango studied each individual piece and finally gave a nod of approval. "Which one should I wear tonight? What do people usually wear in a club?" She spoke the foreign word carefully. Kagome had explained the concept to her, but it was something she supposed she would just have to see to understand.

Kagome picked up the blue jeans and sparkly shirt, handing them to her. "I'm gonna go call Eri-chan back. Think you can manage?" She grinned and winked when the other girl made a face at her.

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Strobe lights cast a funny look throughout the club and multi-colored spotlights moved around the dance floor spotlighting various dancers at random intervals. There was a bar at north end of the dance floor and a metal staircase on the west and east walls with another bar at the south end. While the dance floor opened all the way up to the ceiling, there was a second floor with couches, chairs, and another bar that lined the wall, going out about nine feet to a banister that overlooked the floor. At the north end of that second floor was the DJ booth and there was a third bar on the south wall. Also, from the second floor one had access to the VIP towers; six round towers that were spread across the club with bridge access from the second floor. Round couches, private attendants and tables were set up at each one.

"Follow me!" Ayumi yelled over the booming music and noisy crowd. She led them along the wall to the east staircase and up onto the less populated second floor. From there she escorted them all to one of the private towers. A bouncer checked her id and then unhooked the red velvet rope that blocked other patrons from the tower. Someone had already delivered several gift bags and a bottle of champagne in an iced bucket to the tower and five wine glasses sat on the middle table.

Kagome gaped at the set up in surprise. "How... I thought when you said we were going clubbing, you meant dancing at the club! How'd you pull this off!"

The girls laughed and fell onto the leather couch that lined the edge of the tower, motioning for Sango to join them and Kagome to sit in one of the leather chairs next to it. "Ayumi set it all up! Isn't it great!"

The other girl nodded. "Sanjay's uncle is one of the investors and Sanjay spins some weekends. He's in there now." She waved towards the DJ booth which wasn't far from their tower. "I told him how cool it'd be to have a private box for your bachelorette party and he got his uncle to reserve one for us."

Sango sat quietly on her edge of the sofa, taking it all in. The music was loud and unusual and the strobe affect was giving her a headache, but she'd told Kagome she'd come and she could only hope she'd get used to it soon.

Kagome, on the other hand, was excited. The bouncer would keep their personal possessions safe and get the attention of a staff person if they needed anything. "This is so cool, thanks Ayumi!"

Ayumi waved her hand in dismissal. "Yeah, yeah, now open your gifts." She pointed to the set of bags beside Kagome's chair.

The bride-to-be readily reached down and grabbed one, shifting through the tissue paper for a gift box with Eri's name written on it, indicating the gift was from her. When she opened that up, she found a rhinestone collar and red leash.

"I thought that might be more appropriate than a ball and chain," Eri explained as the others, Sango included, fell into a fit of giggles. "My mom always said men had to be kept on a short leash."

Kagome laughed and stuffed the gag gift back into the bag, mentally deciding she would _not_ show that particular gift to Inuyasha. The next bag was from Ayumi and, when she'd unwrapped the tissue paper around it, she found an assortment of chew toys. Yuka's gift was similar, being a black whip and silver dog whistle.

"I should be mad at you guys for this," Kagome told them, trying to keep a serious expression while the girls wiped their eyes from laughing so hard, their faces flushed. "That was very bad."

Yuka straightened, being the first to calm down enough to talk. "We couldn't resist, Kagome-chan, not when we know what we know about Inuyasha. Those aren't our real gifts anyway. The fourth bag has our real stuff."

Kagome winked at them to let them know she was only teasing and opened the fourth and last bag. It contained a red, silk teddy from Ayumi ("Useful in any era, you know"); a blue gemstone bracelet from Eri ("Something blue. You can't mess with tradition"); and a small sign with the words "Home of Inuyasha & Kagome" carved and painted from Yuka ("Something for both of you"). Sango had already given her a wedding gift a few days earlier. She had taken Kirara and returned to the slayer's village and had finished one of the old youkai bone bows, stringing it with youkai hair so that it wouldn't break. It was now stored in the hut they'd completed the week before.

She stood up and hugged each of her friends, thanking them for their gifts and then took the champagne bottle out of the ice bucket. "Now, let's party!"

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

A/N: I know very, very little about the Shinto wedding ceremony, so I'm not going to embarrass myself by trying to describe the wedding.

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While only her closest friends and family had attended the actually wedding, the reception which they'd held in the shrine courtyard was a different story. Classmates from school, her mother and brother's friends, as well as distant relatives all gathered around to wish the happy couple their congratulations and luck in their endeavors. Kagome had changed out of her wedding kimono and washed the makeup from her face for the reception party and wore a white tube dress, tea-length, with pink sash and pink embroidered flowers around the hem. She kept her hair pulled back with chopsticks, but removed the rest of the hair decorations.

As a gift to the newest member of their family, Keiko and her father-in-law had given Inuyasha a set of black haori and hakama to wear for the wedding and he opted to stay in those for the duration of the reception since they were just as comfortable as his usual fire rat hair clothing.

Miroku wore a similar set in dark blue. It was still odd to see him in anything but his monk's robes, but she was becoming more familiar with it. Sango wore a dark green kimono with a lighter green sash. The couple didn't look as out of place as they had worried they might as several other members of Kagome's reception group had also worn more traditional styled clothing. Not even Shippou seemed that out of place when a longer pair of pants covered his fox-shaped bottom half and his tail was stuffed into the back of the britches, then covered by a longer haori.

They celebrated long into the night and by the time everyone had returned home, they had only a few hours sleep before the sun rose on the next day and they prepared to make their permanent move into Sengoku Jidai, only visiting her era on occasion.


	14. Chapter 14

Note: This is the last chapter and then there'll be an Epilogue. You guys are so totally gonna hate me.

**Scroll Fourteen: Family**

Inuyasha was happy for some reason. He had been smiling to himself all morning long. Miroku had even caught him whistling at one point and had received just a shrug and a smirk when he called the hanyou on it. It was unnerving to see the usually sulky and brooding inu so…chipper. He hadn't even really gotten on to Shippou when the kitsune had started annoying him - or trying to anyway.

"Of course," Kagome commented, looking rather sulky herself. "I'm feeling like crap and he's walking on sunshine." She sat in Sango and Miroku's hut, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. "It makes perfect sense."

Sango laughed and reached over, putting a hand on the other girl's forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever. Perhaps you ate something that didn't agree with you?"

Kagome scrunched up her face and moaned, lying her forehead on her knees. "Do me a favor and don't mention food anymore, please?" She kept her head down and didn't see when Miroku and Inuyasha walked in with an overly excited Shippou at her heels. "I think I'm gonna go through the well and see my doctor. I think I might have a stomach flu or something."

"You ain't got the stomach flu," Inuyasha told her, startling her and making her jump, which in turn made her grimace at the sudden movement that caused her stomach to lurch. "There ain't nothing wrong with you."

"I'm just dying, that's all," she muttered. "You just don't care about me anymore." She gave a pathetic whimper in hopes for sympathy.

"Sango, would you come with me?" Miroku questioned with a suspicious smile. He knew what had made the hanyou so happy. A red haired kitsune had blurted it out while they were out, much to Inuyasha's dismay. Sango stood up and looked at him curiously. "I have something I need to show you. You too, Shippou."

Kagome looked up, finally, as everyone left her and Inuyasha alone in the hut. He had sat down next to her. "You ain't dying and you ain't sick," he said confidently. "And you better have been joking when you said I didn't care about you anymore 'cause you know damn well that I do. If you were really sick I'd have you on the other side of that fucking well and half way to the hospital by now."

A light smile tugged at her lips. She knew it was true, but was just looking for some pity - not something often dealt out by her hanyou, even to her. "Yes, I was joking, koishii. But pray tell, how do you know I'm not sick. I could be."

He gave her a look and tapped his nose. "Trust me, you ain't sick." That cocky grin he'd been wearing all morning was back. "You're carrying a brat."

"Inuyasha, don't tease me about something like that," she scolded, looking at him with a deadly serious expression. She hadn't had any clues that she was with child…except the queasiness, but that could have been anything. "If you're going to tell me that, you'd better be telling the truth."

He glared at her, crossing his arms over his chest. "Of course I'm telling the truth." He frowned as she looked up, reading his eyes to make sure. "You really think I'd lie about a thing like that? You're gonna have a kid, Kagome. Our kid."

At that she did something he had not been expecting. She launched herself into his chest, toppling him backwards onto the wood plank porch of Sango and Miroku's home, her arms snaking around his neck. "Oh! Inuyasha!" She was laughing, but there were tears in her eyes and she stifled a sob with her giggle.

This was probably one of the most confusing moods his wife was ever in, Inuyasha thought. The times when she was laughing and crying at the same time were the most mind boggling for him because he didn't know if he should be happy or comfort her. Mixing two emotional outlets like that left him scratching his head over what to do. So, he put his arms around her and held her to him, lying on his back with her on top of him. "That's good news then?"

She tugged at a handful of silver hair. "You baka, of _course_ it's good news!" She laughed and kissed him, nipping at his lower lip and pulled back. "We're having a baby, Inuyasha." She kissed him again and then nuzzled his neck and shoulder. "I love you, Inuyasha."

He chuckled and rubbed her back. "Ashiteru, Kagome."

He'd never dreamed that he would one day be a dad. Then, he never dreamed he'd be part of a family either or have a wife or be accepted by anyone. But here he was. He had Miroku and Sango and Shippou who were his family as well as Kagome's family on the other side of the well. He was married to Kagome, who he loved more than life itself and who he knew loved him and would do anything to be with him. Their home, their village, accepted him as a part of their community. They included him in festivities and even asked him to aide them in their farming or building new homes or whatever else and paid him for his assistance in goods if not in money. It was how he was able to take care of his wife and keep his home (a small hut near Kaede's) running.

Kagome was almost finished with her training and would work alongside Kaede for a few years before the older woman retired and Kagome became the sole miko for the village. That had helped the people's acceptance of him; that and the fact that Kagome had always rallied for him, even in the beginning.

He was one happy pooch.

She wiggled on top to get a better position and raised her head to look at him. "I'm going to have to go back to Mama's and get a doctor's appointment to make sure everything is okay with the baby and get started on some prenatal vitamins," she stated, still smiling.

"And I'm also going to start shopping for some things that we'll need. You know, some stuff that it won't matter if it's a boy or a girl, like furniture. We're going to need a crib for Mama's house and one for here. She might have one from when Souta was little…it'll be good if I don't have to buy two of everything, but I will have to have two strollers, one for here and one for over there…"

He laughed and sat up, situating her so that she sat across his lap and then put a hand to her lips to stop her rambling. "I think we have a time to get all this stuff, Kagome." He laughed harder when she blushed, realizing she was making plans for months and months in the future. "You're excited, aren't you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, aren't you?"

That was a silly question. If he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging.

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"Inuyasha…we need to get to my era," Kagome said, her voice sounding strained. She stood at the door of their cabin, one hand gripping the door frame, the other braced on her back. "Now." She bit her lip, knuckles turning white from the death grip on the door jam.

He had been chopping wood for Kaede and for their supply and threw the ax into the last log before jogging to her side. "You okay? Will it hurt if I carry you?"

"No worse than it already does," she gasped out as yet another contraction hit. They were still pretty far apart so she probably didn't have to make it sound as urgent as she had, but she wanted to get to modern Tokyo (and epidurals) before it was too late. He swept her into his arms, bridal style, and started towards the well, going quickly but carefully as not to jar her. She fisted her hands into his haori and then relaxed when the pain subsided. "We have to tell someone we're leaving or they'll worry."

He nodded and turned directions, headed towards Kaede's hut. Someone was always there.

Sure enough they found both the monk and slayer sitting outside the hut, talking. "Oi, I'm taking Kagome to her era. We'll probably be gone awhile."

Sango looked up, startled. "Oh? It's time, isn't it?" She smiled brightly. "Good luck, Kagome!"

"Thanks," the miko answered, pursing her lips and grunting as another spasm of pain hit. "Go, Inuyasha."

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Kagome panted, trying to catch her breath after her most recent bout of torture. Keiko dabbed a wet cloth at her forehead and smiled gently, trying to relax her and untwist the sheets from her fists. "Dr. Keioh will be right back and they'll give you the epidural. It won't be so bad after that and then you'll have that beautiful baby to admire."

Kagome nodded and tried to take a deep breath. "Hey, Inuyasha?" He took her hand and she looked at him, almost cracking a smile. Every time she had a pain, he whimpered and generally looked like a beaten puppy. Even now his face was drawn and his ears were lain back. He'd taken the shower cap off for a bit while the room was empty saying it made his ears sweat.

"I'm supposed to be the pitiful one, you know?" He grinned and brushed the hair out of her face as her features contorted once more. He stroked her arm and hand, trying to soothe her. When she finally relaxed again, he moved away to replace the hair cap just before the dark haired doctor and nurse returned.

"Still hanging in there Kagome?" The woman questioned as she read over a printout from the monitor. "Another hour or so and it'll be all over."

"Any way we could convince him to hurry up?" Kagome was being propped up by Keiko and the short haired nurse who parted her gown in the back and rubbed a cold solution over her spine at the small of her back.

Dr. Keioh laughed. "I'm afraid not." She glanced at Inuyasha who was watching Kagome's 'handlers' with wide eyes. "Inuyasha-san, you may want to focus on the window or something," she told him gently. "Now, Kagome, don't move - don't even breathe. This shot goes into your spinal chord."

Kagome held perfectly still while they worked on her from behind. Finally she felt something pressed against her back bone.

"Ready?"

She nodded again.

"One…two…three."

At first it was just pressure and then it stung and then liquid fire seemed to be traveling all along her spine, burning her from the inside out. "Nngh…Gah!" She couldn't help it. She tried not to make any sound, but the cry was ripped from her throat before she could stop it. And then the tears pooled in her blue gray eyes as she clenched them shut.

The hands that had been holding her up gently eased her back down and, as she gasped for breath, a cooling numbness took the place of the fire that had been traveling through her moments before.

Inuyasha growled at Dr. Keioh and the nurse, shooting them a warning glance. Wasn't she in enough pain as it was? How was that epi thing supposed to help her when it hurt so bad? He had tried to go to her when she cried out, but Keiko's warning glare had held him in place. Woman was lucky he respected her so much. No one, _no one_, hurt his mate.

Dr. Keioh chuckled and patted his arm. "It hurts for just a moment. It is the easiest and fastest way to relieve the pressure of her contractions and the pains of birth though you will still experience some pain." The last part was directed at Kagome. She smiled at him. "Just ask Kagome. Was it better than having to feel your hips breaking?"

"I'd rather not feel any of it," Kagome muttered.

Keiko laughed and stroked her daughter's hair. "It would be nice, but I'm afraid we have to sacrifice our comfort to be mothers, dear. Once it's over, you'll have forgotten all about the discomfort."

"Keh, not likely," Inuyasha and Kagome both stated in unison. "Kagome don't forget nothing."

"Gee, thanks, Inuyasha." Kagome made a face at him, her voice holding a sour note. "Make me sound like a witch, why don't you? It's not fair. I carried the baby for nine months. Why can't he have it? Why do I have to do all the work?"

All three women laughed, glancing at the now scowling Inuyasha. Keiko, knowing he was taking them much too seriously, tried to calm herself. "Inu, dear, don't worry so. All women have these spells. Why, when I was in labor with Kagome, I threatened to dismember Haruki if he ever touched me again."

Kagome looked up at her mom. "You threatened to hack up Dad?"

"Well, not all of him, just the parts that caused my situation in the first place." Even Kagome laughed at Inuyasha's wild eyed expression.

"Tomoe-san will call me when it's time. I have a few patients that I need to check on for the moment," Dr. Keioh told them and patted Kagome's leg. "Try and relax and rest a bit. The tough part's coming."

"I'm going to tell Souta and Jii-chan we're still waiting and make sure they're okay," Keiko informed them and followed Dr. Keioh out.

Kagome shut her eyes and tried to concentrate on her breathing, forcing her body to relax although the baby had other plans. She could feel Inuyasha next to her and felt the bed move slightly as he sat on the edge, taking her hand. Without opening her eyes, she could still see him, could see the pensive look in his golden eyes even though his expression gave nothing away and just knew that beneath the cap, his ears were plastered to his head in worry and fear. Where he was from, giving birth was a matter of life and death. More babies and mothers died from the birthing process than lived. She had tried to explain to him that such was no longer the case due to advances in medicine and technology, but she had not quite been able to dispel his fear.

"Hey?" His voice was quiet and gruff, but his fingers were gentle as he brushed the drops from her eyes and cheeks. "Is it still that bad?"

"No," she started to shake her head, but stopped, feeling another tear escape and get brushed away. "Not as much, really."

"Kagome -"

"Is it a boy or a girl?" The nurse asked, reading the print out once more. "Or do you know?"

"Eh? Oh," Inuyasha looked up, distracted. "We decided to be surprised."

The paper fell from the nurse's hands and she moved the sheet that had been covering Kagome off of her legs and spread them, making sure they went into the stirrups. "Well, you're about to find out," she informed them with a smile and pressed something on the pager beofre guiding Inuyasha out of the way to lift Kagome and prop another pillow behind her.

"Inuyasha," Kagome gasped out, "go get Mama - tell the others. Hurry, before Dr. Keioh gets here."

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"One more time, Kagome. Come on! You can do it!" Keiko encouraged from one side of the bed, while Inuyasha supported her from the other.

"Push, koishii, push."

"I _am_ pushing, damnit!" Kagome shrieked through clenched teeth. "You try having a kid!" She fell back against the pillow and gasped for breath, swiping at the hair that was plastered to her forehead and cheeks.

A loud wail filled the room, drawing their attention to the foot of the bed where the dark haired doctor stood, wrapping a tiny, messy baby into a blanket. "You have a daughter," she said, smiling. "A beautiful baby girl."

Kagome smiled, raising up slightly to see the bundle that they were placing on her chest.

"Say hello Mama and Papa, then lets get her cleaned up so the three of you can spend some time together."

Kagome bit her lip, trying not to cry, knowing tears now would worry Inuyasha since she was supposed to be happy and he still hadn't quite grasped the concept of tears of joy. "My baby…she's so beautiful…"

"Yeah, she is." Inuyasha touched the baby's cheek with a clawed finger, being careful of his claws. "Kami-sama, Kagome, it's real." He stared at the squirming child for a moment until they took her away and then looked at Kagome, absolute shock on his face. "I'm a father."

He had never expected to reach adulthood when he had thought Naraku would be his doom, knowing he would never survive the battle, but somehow he had. Since Kagome had come into his life, he had accomplished things he had never thought possible and been given those gifts he thought were not made for him. He was alive. He had a family, friends, acceptance, a home, a wife...and now a child, a daughter, who would carry his name.

"What? Did you think you've been dreaming for the past nine months?" Kagome smiled and reached up, touching his cheek. "Baka, Inuyasha. Of course it's real." She tried to sound scolding, but could not. His entire life he had never expected anything good to happen to him. Despite the situation, he always searched for something to go wrong, believing he wasn't deserving of good things because he'd never gotten them before. Now, when something this wonderful was happening, he was thrown for a loop. _I wish I could undo all the bad things and make him understand he deserves to be happy just as much as anyone else_.

"Ahem." Dr. Keioh stood, having handed the wiggling bundle to the nurse to be looked after. "I hate to interrupt, but we aren't done yet."

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Inuyasha sat in the chair by Kagome's bed. She had been moved from delivery to recovery and the baby had been fed and left in the room with Mama and Papa. Keiko had delivered the news to Jii-chan and Souta that there was a black haired, golden eyed, eight pound, nine ounce new bundle of joy in the family and everyone had gone home for the evening after meeting the child for the first time.

The swaddled new born yawned in his arms, squirming a bit, opening her golden eyes slightly to look at him and then settled down once more seeming to sigh contentedly as she drifted back to sleep. He carefully moved the blanket back away from her head to get a better look at her now that everything was quiet.

Her eyes had startled everyone in the hospital and all the nurses in the maternity ward had stopped by the nursery to look at the amazing child with amber eyes. This had worried him until Keiko had explained that most babies were born with dark blue or black eyes and didn't change color until days later. So, the baby had his eyes and was not like normal ningen children.

Her hair was a dark gray, much darker than his, but lighter than Kagome's black tresses. Of course, this was prone to change according to Keiko, who insisted that after a few months babies lost their downy new born hair and that it could possibly grow in a different shade. Souta, for instance, had had the same rusty brown color as his father at birth and had gotten black hair later.

It was the baby's ears that had most concerned him, though. Hair and eye color would make her unique, but it was the most obvious traits that would determine if his daughter was doomed to his childhood as an outcast. He had spent nine months worrying over whether or not she would be born half transformed as he had been, the ultrasounds having done little to quell his anxiety. Upon discovering that she had ningen ears and not puppy ones, he had breathed a sigh of relief, even after he saw that they were shaped like his brothers, pointed like other youkai in human form. It would not make her an obvious target in either world.

Very lightly, he ran his finger down the tiny lobe, tracing it and then caressed her pudgy cheeks. "Hey there," he said in a gruff whisper. "I'll always protect you, okay? You and your mom. I ain't going nowhere."

"You'd better not." Kagome's tired voice surprised him. He'd been so intent on the baby he'd not noticed she was awake. "You're not allowed to leave me."

"Keh, wench, you're supposed to be resting." He was smiling and had been since the baby was born.

She shrugged. "Hospital beds aren't made for sleeping in. They're uncomfortable." She shifted, as if to prove her point, and then turned her heavy lidded gaze to him. "Do I get that same promise? That you'll always protect me?"

"I told you that when we were married." He stood up, careful of the baby he carried, and messed with the bed switches till it reclined a little less. "Hell, I've been telling you that for years. Scoot up and sit."

When she'd complied, grimacing at the movement, he handed the swaddled bundle to her and positioned himself so that he sat behind her, leaning against the head of the bed and brought her to lean back on him, one leg on either side of her.

"Besides, I always have, haven't I?"

She yawned and closed her eyes. "You most certainly have." Her smile widened when she heard him keh. "Did you come up with a name?"

He idly caressed her stomach, making sure his touch was light and gentle as not to cause any discomfort. "I kinda like Hana. What about you?"

She nodded. "Inutaishou Hana. I like it. Is that what you wanna call her?"

He nodded and kissed her hair. "We'll tell everyone tomorrow. Get some sleep, wench." But she was already sleeping once more. Cradling the baby again, he kissed Hana's cheek, unable to take his eyes off of her. His child.

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Kagome and Inuyasha wrapped the baby as snug as they could in the baby carrier and made sure she was secure before making the jump through the well to the Sengoku Jidai. The little girl was still fast asleep when her father set the carrier in the bottom of the well and grabbed Kagome, making the leap to the grassy hill before coming back for her.

Even when they got to Miroku's home, she still slept on, although everyone cooed over her and said how pretty she was with her dark hair and smooth skin. Inuyasha grinned proudly and unhooked the buckle that kept her securely in the carrier, lifting her out in one smooth gentle motion and bringing her to rest in the crook of his arm. She yawned and turned her head into his haori, taking a deep breath before drifting back to sleep.

"Like father like daughter," Kagome muttered and kissed his cheek. "She scents everyone when they pick her up."

Inuyasha grinned and looked down at the tiny thing in his arms. She would always be protected and loved and accepted. She would learn everything that he could teach her and everything that Kagome could teach her and the schools in Kagome's era so that no one could ever take advantage over her. She would never want for anything. He would make sure to give her the life growing up that he never had. She would have a father and a mother to love her and keep her safe. She would never go hungry for any reason.

No, she would never suffer the things that he had. She would never know lonely days filled with people who despised her because of her lineage. She would never be forced to fend for herself because everyone who loved her was gone. His daughter would never suffer from malnutrition or hunger. He would make sure of that. No child should have to suffer those things.

Especially not his child.

Kaede chuckled when Inuyasha knelt down to show off his daughter to Shippou and Kirara and to herself - she was considerably shorter than the hanyou. "May I, Inuyasha?" She questioned, a smile still gleaming in her eyes.

He did not want to hand her over, but he submitted and allowed the old miko to cradle the child who yawned again and barely opened her golden eyes, curious about who had her now. She managed to get one arm out of her blanket and reach it towards Kaede's face while the old woman laughed heartily. "It's been a while since I've seen a babe as tiny as you, little one."

In response, the baby let her arm fall back on top of the blanket while the miko rubbed her arm before the child grasped the wrinkled finger in her fist. "Ah, little one." She often wondered what it would be like to have had children of her own, but she knew that her place was as miko and guardian of these five. Never once did she regret taking her sister's place as the village miko.

_If Kikyo and Inuyasha had not been tricked as they were, I wonder if you would have been born to them?_ She caressed the fingers that were still wrapped around her one. _No, probably not. It is best that things happened as they did. _She glanced up at the two young adults who had created the wonder in her arms. Inuyasha stood with his arm around Kagome's waist, supporting her while she leaned against him.

"Kaede-obaa, what are you telling my daughter?" Kagome questioned, grinning. "I can see that concentration in your face. You're telling her something the rest of us can't hear."

Kaede laughed. "I was speaking to her. I was just giving her the words of advise that I have learned over my long life."

"You'll have to share them with me one day. Especially if they have anything to do with training a spouse," Kagome giggled when Inuyasha's hold on her tightened and he growled playfully. "Let me hold her know. Inuyasha hardly lets me have a chance." She smiled up at her possessive husband.

"I can't believe she's real…she's really mine…" he muttered an explanation as a light pink tinged his cheeks when her smile softened and she reached up to caress his jaw before taking Hana in her arms.

"Hey there, koi," Kagome muttered quietly as the baby tried to snuggle closer to her chest. "Hana." She brushed the blanket away from her face so that the baby's face was fully exposed to her. "How's my sweet baby?" Golden eyes slit open to look at her before sliding closed once more and Kagome giggled quietly as Inuyasha's arms snaked around her waist again.

She caressed the pudgy cheek and lifted her gaze to Inuyasha's golden depths. "I love you," she whispered as he captured her lips in a light kiss.

"I love you, too." His breath blew across her ear and cheek, tickling her hair. "Both of you." He put his hand over Kagome's on the baby's cheek, just barely brushing across her skin.

"Do you want to hold her, Miroku-sama," she asked looking over at him as he was the closest and he was staring intently at the blanketed bundle.

Miroku grinned and shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He came over and frowned, realizing that he'd never held a newborn before. "How?" His voice was a whisper of uncertainty. "I've never…"

Kagome smiled gently. "Bend your arm like mine to support her back. Make sure her head's in the bend of your arm so that it's supported. She can't hold her head up on her own yet." She positioned the sleeping child in his bend arm and made sure that he had a steady grip on her before letting go. "Now bring this arm around to hold her close to you." She brought his other arm around so that it hugged the child to his chest. "There you go. Just like that."

He didn't even realize he'd been holding his breath until he let it out and chuckled lightly. "I haven't been around babies much…" Considering all the women he'd asked to bare his child, one would have thought he _some _experience with kids, but it turned out that he had not planned on being around when those women bore those same children…in fact, he'd have been long gone by the time the pregnancy was discovered. He and Sango had yet to conceive, which was alright. They were still adjusting to married life.

"Taishou Hana…That's a beautiful name," he murmured. "Just like you and your mother." He grinned when Kagome blushed.

He rocked her slowly and smiled to himself. "I think that one day I'll write down a series of short tales about our adventures together. That way our children will know where they have come from."

Sango put an hand on his shoulder and wrapped her other arm around the ones that held the baby. "I think that's a good idea. Alright, it's my turn." He frowned, but carefully handed the baby to her.

Sango readjusted the blanket to cover Hana's bare arm and smoothed the dark curls on her forehead. "I want a baby Miroku…"

"I thought we were working on that."


	15. Chapter 15

Note: If you've ever seen the Hallmark/NBC miniseries _The Monkey King_, then you'll recognize what I'm doing here. If not, well, you should see it. It's not big budget or anything (few Hallmark presentations are), but it's a fairly decent movie - and not nearly as long as _The 10th Kingdom_.

**Epilogue: Seperation Anxiety**

She walked with an heir of confidence and grace, almost like a divine being herself. Her feet were bare, save for the tabi socks that covered her feet and muffled her steps so that the only noise she made as she proceeded down the long corridor was the light _swish_ of silk against silk from the royal blue and gold kimono she wore. Her hair was long and jet black, tied in a horse tail at the nape of her neck with a gold ribbon.

As she approached the end of the hall, two large doors swung open of their own accord though it did not seem to phase her. Things like that were common place there. After all it was Nirvana, the Gods Realm, the Divine Plains, or the hereafter as it was sometimes called. Or one should say that those things were common place, more or less, within the walls of the Great City which was home to the lesser kamis and spiritual guardians as well as various theologians and philosophers (or rather their spirits). Outside of the Great City's walls there were various locations for various eras in time where the spirits of the 'common' dead resided until they were deemed ready for reincarnation.

Although the Great City was home to lesser kamis, the great gods - the mothers and fathers of all things that are, the creators of worlds, from each of the various religions which made up Japan - resided in the City of the Gods which was off limits to all but them. These greater kamis seldom descended to the lower realms except in matters of trials when their intervention was absolutely necessary. Any and all communications from these beings were sent through special messengers, beings who were able to carry out their orders when necessary.

She was a messenger, and very proud of her position. She had resided in the Great City for nearly half a millennia before being appointed the position and she had managed to carry out every order to the letter for over two hundred years now.

As the doors opened and she crossed the threshold from the stone tile floor to the tatami mats of the smaller chamber, several girls in less decadent kimono bowed to her, muttering a quiet "Greetings Midoriko-sama."

She nodded to them in acknowledgment and let her eyes wander the room. It was not small, but it was not as grand as some of the other rooms in the guardian's dormitory either. Tatami mats covered the floor and the walls were made of screens with three windows cut into each wall to allow for air flow. The back half of the room was a raised platform and littered with pillows of various sizes in orange, red and gold tones. The platform was partially blocked off from the rest of the room by a sheer, white curtain that hung from either end.

To the left of the raised floor a young woman in a pink and blue kimono played a soft melody on a harp. It may not have been a native instrument, but there were very few limits to the Divine Realms.

A rather large grouping of girls either sat or lay across the pillows of the platform while another girl read aloud from a book of haiku. And to her right another young woman in red and white stood at a canvas with a brush in hand, painting the scene outside her window.

Midoriko cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention. "I need to speak with Izayoi and Kikyo, so if you would all kindly relocate?"

There were several groans, but each of the girls reluctantly rose and exited until only Midoriko, the painter and the harp player were left. Both women left their tasks to stand before the messenger who did not look very happy at the moment.

"It has come to the divine ones attentions that you haven't completed your assignment," she told them and both girls looked away guiltily. "They want to know why their orders weren't carried out."

"The reasons should be obvious," Izayoi said softly, a gentle smile on her lips. "They've fallen in love and to separate them now would destroy them both."

Midoriko sighed and her features softened. "I know, Izayoi, and I can understand what you're feeling, but I've brought this point up to the kamis. They were quick to point out that in accordance with our agreement, not only was the well to be sealed but anyone who was told about either era or had any communications with an era not their own would have that information wiped from memory."

"The idea being that their hearts can't be broken if they don't remember there is a reason for a broken heart, right?" Kikyo asked, arching her brow. She crossed hear arms over her chest. "I do not think that this is the wisest action. One's mind can easily be altered, but a heart has an amazing memory."

Izayoi nodded in agreement. "And he's so fragile aleady. I'm afraid that erasing her from his memory will undo all the progress he's made."

"Again, a valid point, but one that's already been argued before the high counsel." Midoriko shook her head and placed a hand on her arm. "I know he is your son and you want him to be happy, but the kamis have willed this and you cannot defy them. I shouldn't need to remind you that you are both still new guardians and your positions are still on a trial basis. If you mess up, you will lose your guardian status. So, unless you can come up with some extenuating circumstance for the gods to retract their previous decree, you will have to seal the well and erase their memories."

Izayoi bit her lip in thought and looked to Kikyo who seemed to be thinking just as hard.

Just when Midoriko was about to speak again, Kikyo's face lit up and she finally smiled. "The child!" She exclaimed and looked from Izayoi to Midoriko. "There is a child, a little girl. She's three and a perfectly valid excuse to not separate them."

The other woman nodded, a smile on her own lips as she began to get excited. "She's right. Whoever the babe is with at the time of the separation cannot have their memories erased because of the child and therefore that parent will suffer from the separation."

"She belongs with both of them," Kikyo added. "She's a part of them both. She's a part of both eras. Surely the kamis would not take a child from her parent? There must be a way around it for the sake of the babe."

Midoriko frowned. It was unusual that the divine beings would overlook such a detail, but she supposed being the rulers of the universe was a taxing job and kept them busy enough that overlooking the birth of one little girl was not such a big deal.

"Alright," she said finally, sighing. "I will relate this news to the kamis and see what their wish is. In the meantime, to keep the peace, I want you to watch and the next time Kagome returns to her era, seal the well. Leave their memories in tact for now."

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

The ear-piercing wails that had rocked their house that morning had finally worn down to pitiful whimpers and Kagome paced the floor of the main room, slowly rocking the bundle in her arms. The toddler clung to her neck, trembling and whining every few minutes.

"Hush little baby don't you cry," she sang softly, patting the child's back in even, light strokes.

The door slid open and Inuyasha walked in, brows drawn together in concern as he slid the door shut behind him. He'd been gone talking to Miroku and trying to decide whether or not it would be okay to leave long enough to exterminate a youkai that'd been attacking villages in search of the Shikon no Tama. They didn't get many but they did get a few who felt the jewel's power and were brave enough to ignore the youki coming from the demons of the village and the spiritual aura coming from Kagome herself.

"Any better?" He asked, keeping his voice low in case the child was asleep.

The little girl raised her head and turned puffy, red eyes to him. "Papa," she whimpered pathetically and held her arms out for him. When he took her from Kagome, she buried her head in the side of his neck. "My tummy hurts."

"She still has a fever and she can't keep anything down. I've tried giving her teas and every other form of medicine I can think of, but she can't keep it down long enough for it to do any good," his wife informed him. She stretched her arms to the side and then over her head, working out the muscles that had been held in the same position for so long while she carried her daughter.

"Maybe you should take her to your mom's, to the doctor there?" He suggested. If Kagome couldn't help her with the remedies from their era, then maybe the doctors on the other side of the well would be able to do something. "I still gotta take care of that youkai."

She disappeared into an adjoining room and he followed, watching while she packed a small diaper bag with a change of clothes, a sippie cup, and other things mothers need when taking their toddlers out. "You don't think it'll give up when it realizes the Shikon no Tama's no longer around?"

"By then it'll be here. Me and Miroku are gonna have to get rid of it before that." He handed her the little girl as soon as she'd shouldered her day bag and then drapped a small, pink flanel blanket over the little girl's shoulders. "I'll go to your mom's house as soon as we're done - if you're not back by then."

Kagome nodded and leaned on her tip toes to kiss him. "Be careful," she instructed, pulling away before he captured her mouth for another kiss. "I love you."

"Love you, Papa." Hana turned her head on her mom's shoulder to look at him and he rubbed his hand over her silky black hair.

"I love you, too." He raised his golden eyes up from the matching eyes of his child to the azure orbs of his wife. "Both of you."

He walked them to the well and waited until the blue light of the time warp had carried them away before sprinting off toward the monk's house to go slay some youkai.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

Not long after Hana had been born and it was realized that not all of Kagome's visits would be accompanied by a hanyou who could leap out of the well, carrying them both with no effort, a sort of pulley system had been devised so that mother and child could get out without too much trouble. A basket, lined with a soft blanket and deep enough that she wouldn't tip out was left at the bottom of the well and Hana was placed inside. When Kagome climbed out, there was a rope attached to the basket that she could use to haul the child up and out with, as well as lower her back down when it was time to leave.

After lifting the toddler from the well, Kagome gathered her things and went out to inform her mother they were home and would need to make a hospital visit.

As soon as the doors were slid shut behind them, two ghostly figures appeared, hovering above the well. With sad and solemn expressions, they clasped hands. "It is done." And they were gone.

_Fin...for now..._

hits send and runs for cover


End file.
